BEDFORDVIEW – A woman was killed on Friday morning after a large rock was allegedly thrown from a bridge onto the R24 freeway near Bedfordview, east of Johannesburg.
The rock smashed through the windscreen of her grey Honda on the eastbound carriageway, just before the Gillooly’s Interchange, at approximately 07:38. The impact caused fatal head injuries. The driver lost control and crashed into roadside barriers.
Emergency services declared her dead at the scene.
An eyewitness told police the rock was “dropped” from the Van der Linde Road Bridge, according to Bedfordview South African Police Service (SAPS) station commander Colonel TW Mathiane. That discrepancy has not been resolved.
Bedfordview SAPS confirmed a murder case is under investigation, a shift from the inquest docket initially opened by EMPD. Mathiane said officers found the grey Honda with windscreen and front bumper damage and a solid rock at the scene.
Not an isolated incident
Friday’s killing is the latest in a string of rock-throwing incidents in the Bedfordview area.
On social media, people have shared their own experiences of similar attacks. Someleze Ngoyi wrote that it happened to him about two months ago while driving from Pretoria to Midrand around 22:00. He said a man came running but he was in the far-right lane.
“He threw something at the car, but he didn’t have time because when I drive around that time I keep my arm ready on top of it.”
Lungiswa Smayile said it also happened to his son, who was driving a truck with a trailer on Thursday in Johannesburg. “Luckily the stone hit on top, where the window and the roof of the car meet,” Smayile wrote. “He was just lucky, because if they had hit the windscreen, maybe things would be different by now.”
The South African National Roads Agency (Sanral) previously announced plans to enhance safety measures on the highway following those earlier incidents.
Calls for cameras
Community leaders are now calling for surveillance cameras on all bridges in the area. Bedfordview Community Policing Forum (CPF) chairperson Colin McKenzie described the incident as “very tragic,” in a report.
He said the CPF was looking at installing cameras linked to a 24-hour control centre. “The immediate thing is to put cameras up, raise money to put up cameras and then monitor them,” McKenzie said.
Humphreys said the community was deeply disturbed and residents were sharing information as authorities checked CCTV footage.
Authorities are appealing to anyone who witnessed the incident or has information to contact Bedfordview SAPS. McKenzie can be reached on 079 219 5064.
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