Patrons shell-shocked as truck rams into pub

A pick-up truck that allegedly had faulty brakes failed to stop at a robot controlled inter-section and smashed into the pillar at about 3 pm.
Tongues were left wagging when a policeman tried to drive the car from the scene of the accident and it overshot the pavement and nearly ploughed into a group of people who had gathered to witness the incident.
Miss Gertrude Matshaka, a vendor outside the bar, cheated death as she was pinned by the pillar that supported the roof of the bar.
Miss Matshaka said the left side of her body, where she was hit by the falling pillar, was painful.”The pick-up truck hit the pillar which fell on top of me and pressed hard on my left side. It was terribly painful. I have no bruises to show but I feel the pain inside,” said Miss Matshaka.
The witness said the driver of the truck was trying to avoid smashing into a car that was in front of him when he swerved into the pillar.
“The yellow pick-up truck which is owned by a local businessman, tried to avoid the other car in front of it and instead hit a pillar against which Miss Matshaka was leaning on.
“The pillar fell on top of her. We were surprised to see that she was not seriously injured when we helped her to her feet,” said the man.
The bar’s manager, Mr Bongisani Mafela, said the driver of the car should pay for the damages he caused.
“We get many customers everyday and we cannot afford to lose them so Mandevhu must pay for the damages that he caused so that our customers would be safe again.
“We do not want to be known for the bad reasons,” said Mafela.