POLICE are investigating charges of culpable homicide, reckless and negligent driving following the death of Joburg mayor Jolidee Matongo on Saturday at the age of 46.
His vehicle collided with a van while trying to avoid a pedestrian who had run on to the road along the Golden Highway.
The pedestrian and the other vehicle’s driver also died, while Matongo’s two bodyguards are being treated in hospital for their injuries.
An unidentified pedestrian was rushed to hospital after he was knocked by the mayor’s vehicle which, according to authorities, was trying to swerve away from the man but instead, collided with a bakkie.
The death of the pedestrian has upgraded the police inquest to three cases of culpable homicide and reckless endangerment.
From Matongo’s vehicle, only he was killed.
His two bodyguards suffered serious injuries but on Sunday, both men were said to be in stable condition and recovering well in a Joburg hospital.
Matongo’s death came after a day spent on the campaign trail on Soweto alongside ANC leader and president of South Africa, Cyril Ramaphosa.
With only a month in office as successor of the late Geoff Makhubo, Matongo was in high spirits ahead of the 2021 local government elections where the ANC looked to retain control of the metro.
He was a member of the governing ANC, and was expected to be at the forefront of the party’s campaign to win Johannesburg – South Africa’s commercial capital – in local government elections due on 1 November.
In his tribute to the mayor, President Ramaphosa said: “It is hard to comprehend this tragedy, given the vitality and passion with which Mayor Matongo interacted with me and residents of Soweto so shortly before his death.
“Nothing could prepare any of us for this sudden loss, which has deprived our nation’s economic centre of its second executive mayor in two months.”
The premier of South Africa’s Gauteng province, David Makhura, said he was shattered by the mayor’s death.
“He served as a councillor for many years before being elected as the mayor of Johannesburg,” Mr Makhura’s office added in a statement.
Johannesburg is the main city in Gauteng, the economic hub of South Africa.
Former Johannesburg mayor and opposition ActionSA leader Herman Mashaba said he and Mr Matongo had had sharp political differences, but he would always “cherish” their “special relationship”.
- Inside Politics
