Yet another accident occurred on a dreaded curve near Pepperwood Estate just outside of Heldervue along the R44 at the weekend, bringing the number of incidents at the spot to 10 in total.
Kobus van Zyl, a resident of Pepperwood Estate who in the past has had to deal with debris from these accidents ending up in his yard, was again shocked when the latest accident occurred.
He mentioned the accident took place metres from Pepperwood Estate’s exterior walls around 17:05 on Saturday (10 February). Van Zyl claimed a vehicle that left the road ended up hitting a neighbouring property’s exterior wall.
Pepperwood Estate has become synonymous with accidents over the last few years, while the estate’s exterior walls have borne the brunt of the accidents, with vehicles veering off the road and crashing into them.
Two of these accidents occurred on 15 and 18 June last year, and in both accidents the occupants were lucky not to be seriously injured (“Dreaded R44 curve wreaks havoc,” DistrictMail & Helderberg Gazette, 5 July 2023).
Stuart Grobbelaar, spokesperson for Stellenbosch Municipality, confirmed officers of Stellenbosch Traffic Services responded to the accident scene.
Grobbelaar further said no serious injuries were reported; no further details on the crash was supplied.
However Dirk Taljard, owner of property damaged, said a Mahindra bakkie veered over the centre median before crashing into his boundary wall.
He, however, could not provide more information about the accident.
Following the numerous accidents on this road, Van Zyl sent an email to Lenn Fourie, the deputy director-general of Transport Infrastructure at the provincial Department of Infrastructure, inquiring whether a barrier could be installed at the curve.
In an email response Michael Hendrickse, a chief engineer at the department informed Van Zyl that Fourie had retired last year.
“Regarding your query, we’ve investigated the matter and confirmed that guardrails are not warranted on the section of the R44 in question,” Hendrickse further said.
Ward 15 councillor Gregory Peck reiterated that the provincial Department of Infrastructure has decided not to install a barrier, “because it could throw vehicles back into the road, resulting in bigger accidents”.
