Five Zaoga church band members die in SA accident

By Thupeyo Muleya

Five members of the South African based More Praise band were on Thursday killed in a road accident in Pretoria when their Honda Ballade was rammed by a speeding Audi Q7 along the R21 highway.

The accident occurred at around 2 am near the Nellmapius off-ramp in Irene.

It is understood that the group who are members of the ZAOGA were travelling from Soshanguvhe to Johannesburg where they were expected to launch their new song Njanina.

They rose to fame last year with their song ZAOGA Yafamba.

The bodies are being kept at a private mortuary in Pretoria and police are yet to release their names. All the victims are in their early 20s.

Sources close to ongoing police investigation indicate that the Honda Ballade and the Audi Q7 were travelling in the same direction and along the way , the driver of the Audi tried to overtake the other car and later spotted an oncoming haulage truck.

“He then tried to go back to his lane and as a result he collided with the Honda and drove over it ripping it into two halves. Four passengers who were in the Honda were thrown out and died instantly while the other occupant was trapped under the wreckage,” said the source.

ER24 spokesperson, Mr Werner Vermaak told journalists that the exact cause of the accident was not known.

He said ER24 paramedics who arrived at the scene found an Audi Q7 lying on its roof and the Honda Ballade which had been ripped into two halves. The Chronicle