The tragic death of a mother of five has placed the spotlight on the rule and regulations of the minibus-taxi industry, or the lack thereof.
On Friday 7 October, Norma Gomba was walking down Main Road in Wynberg during her lunch hour when a minibus taxi jumped the curb, hitting a pillar and Gomba before smashing into a clothing store’s display window.
Gomba was declared dead on the scene.
Capt Silvino Davids, spokesperson for Wynberg Police Station, confirmed the incident.
According to eyewitness accounts, the driver (44) of the minibus taxi, was allegedly speeding up Main Road when he tried to avoid a vehicle in front of him.
“He then swerved onto the left side of the road, hitting a pillar and a lady on the pavement. The minibus taxi went into the glass section of a shop, Volt, where it came to a standstill. Nobody inside the shop was injured. The driver wasn’t transporting any passengers at the time of the incident,” said Davids.
He added that the police were reviewing video footage of the incident. He said they were still waiting on the autopsy results as to the exact cause of death, as well as the results of a blood alcohol level test administered to the driver.
“Officers on the scene reported that the driver smelled of alcohol and that he was unsteady on his feet. He was arrested and directly taken from the scene to a nearby hospital to be tested,” said Davids.
The taxi driver appeared in the Wynberg Magistrates’ Court on charges of drunken driving and culpable homicide on Monday 10 October. He is currently being detained. His next court case is scheduled for Monday 5 December.
Davids said the case is under investigation.
Ward 62 councillor Emile Langenhoven, who was at the scene of the accident, last week expressed his anger at the incident which “quietly passed by our radar as if it is something that happens every day, or has become our new normal”.
“This cannot be,” he wrote in an open letter shared on various communication platforms.
Langenhoven then went on to speak out against “a complete lack of accountability on the part of the taxi association who should never have allowed a drunk taxi driver behind the wheel”.
“If this were any other passenger transport company, there would be investigations, court cases and heavy penalties for the company. But this does not seem to apply to the taxi industry. Proof, yet again, that the taxi industry is beyond reproach,” he wrote.
Norma leaves behind five children – four sons (two of whom are 12-year-old twins) and one daughter (19).
Her oldest son, Lubabalo (25), told People’s Post that the police immediately informed the family of his mother’s death.
“They found my mom’s cellphone and called the last person she had spoken to. My aunt, Asanda.”
Lubabalo says it was a shock when he heard his mother was dead.
“I didn’t want to believe it. I kept on saying that they must stop saying that my mom is no more.”
He describes his mother as someone who always had a smile to share with others.
“She was always quoting from the Bible. Everybody knows her as a loving person.”
He feels the accident should have been avoided.
“I don’t know how a driver could have been drunk in town. They are not checked that they are in a good state of driving.”
Norma’s colleagues shared their deepest condolences with her family, and friends in a message last week. She worked as an office lady at Adviceworx, a financial services provider located in Alphen Office Park.
“Norma was a ray of light every time she walked into a room, pure sunshine, always dressed to the ‘T’, often in gorgeous traditional materials. She could make everyone smile with her incredibly bright smile and a simple hello.
“Norma was a very strong woman, who loved her children more than anything in the world. We will never forget her radiant smile, her encouraging words and the love that flowed through her. She will be dearly missed,” the message read.
The taxi driver is a member of the Cata Wynberg Constantia Taxi Association. The association was contacted for comment but calls and messages went unanswered.
Norma will be buried on 29 October in the Eastern Cape where she was born. Lubabalo says the family is still deciding who will look after the younger boys.
