What started as a regular drive home after visiting her daughter turned into a tragic accident for Amutha Naidoo. The Reservoir Hills resident took a sharp turn on Mountbatten Drive, a road she drives on frequently, however, on 24 February a rock fell onto the road obstructing traffic.
“It all happened so fast. I couldn’t turn onto the other lane because of the traffic. Before I knew it I hit the rock.” Amutha said the car went over the rock damaging the bumper, tire and undercarriage and had to be written off. Amutha’s husband, Dan said he is not sure how the rock got on to the road but he suspects it fell from a resident’s driveway. “There are lots of rocks on one side of the driveway which are not stable. It’s highly likely that the rock fell from that driveway.” said Dan. He said he spoke to the owner of the house who refused to acknowledge that the incident happened due to an alleged lack of maintenance at the property. Dan said the doctor who examined Amutha told him she had sustained multiple fractures to her ribs, liver and legs: “At the moment she is recuperating at home and spending most of her time in bed.’
Community activist, Ron Naidoo said she got a call from a security company about a resident who met with an accident. “They told me when she hit the rock she actually dragged it a few meters,” said Ron. She said the owner of the property should be taking care of his retaining walls: “The owner has these rocks placed so the wall doesn’t collapse and he is not taking care of it. There are many rocks that are loose and he still hasn’t done anything about it.”
Tabloid Newspapers met the homeowner who said he was unable to comment at this time. The Municipality Parks Department was contacted for comment but no response was received at the time of going to print.
