Great-grandmother guilty in Bainskloof Pass crash that killed three children

The Pass That Holds Centuries

Bainskloof Pass rises twenty-five kilometres beyond Wellington, a thin thread of tar stapled to the Riviersonderend range. Andrew Geddes Bain, Scottish engineer, carved it by pick and blast in 1853, working from cliff edge to cliff edge while mules hauled his powder kegs. Every new guardrail bolted since then is still younger than the granite it shields. Drivers leave the Swartland’s flat heat, climb through a rapid-fire checklist of hair-pins, blind brows, and sudden duvets of mountain mist that turn headlights into useless white discs. The northern shoulder drops between forty and one hundred-and-twenty metres onto silver-tree scrub and splintered rock. Average impact cameras log twenty-three barrier kisses every month, and most never make the news: the stone parapets installed in 2009 sponge off most glancing blows. On 20 November 2021, a silver-grey Avanza arrived at 14:17 and punched clean through that wall, travelling at an angle the forensics team later called “deliberate, not desperate.”

Bain’s original toll-house still stands, now a hikers’ shelter. Its roof sags but the stonework is flawless, proof that nineteenth-century mortar can still outlast modern steel. An electronic warning board flashes amber whenever wind gusts exceed sixty kilometres an hour, yet nothing alerts traffic to the psychological weather inside a single car. Road crews repaint the chevrons every two years; the granite underneath has bled the same ochre shade since the day dynamite first cracked it open. Day-trippers stop for selfies, unaware that the same bend has seen picnic blankets, marriage proposals, and a growing tally of unanswered questions.

Below the tarmac, the Witte River keeps cutting a slot that grows one millimetre a year. Geologists speak of uplift, erosion, and epochs; motorists speak of guardrails, blind corners, and the next overtaking lane. The two conversations rarely meet - until physics takes the microphone.

The Car, the Children, and the Clock

The Machine

A 2007 Toyota Avanza - seven seats, fresh brake-fluid from a Wellington workshop, tyre tread still deep enough to pass roadworthy scrutiny. Electronic stability control armed and functioning. Five weeks earlier a mechanic had stamped the service book, unaware the kilometres left to travel would be measured in minutes.

The Passengers

Four souls on board: the seventy-one-year-old driver, and three brothers strapped into child seats supplied by the Department of Social Development. Joshua, two, had just mastered the triangle gesture with tiny thumbs and fore-fingers. Caleb, eight, curated pebbles that resembled animals, storing them in a matchbox marked “Zoo.” Gradwell, five, zipped through the alphabet backwards in under seven seconds, a party trick he debuted to every new visitor at the R44 foster home where they had spent the past half-year.

The Timeline

• 13:12 – Great-grandmother signs the children out from the foster mother’s brick bungalow off Hoof Street.
• 13:26 – The Avanza crosses Wellington’s last traffic light; cell-tower logs go silent for forty-six minutes, suggesting airplane mode or deliberate shutdown.
• 13:49 – Tollgate camera at the pass entrance records the rear-facing child seats through the back window.
• 14:15 – Delivery-van driver Anja van der Merwe is overtaken on a solid barrier line; she clocks the silver MPV at 90–95 km/h in an 80 zone.
• 14:17.12 – A forestry worker 120 metres below hears a brief tyre chirp, then silence, then the metallic rip of a rail giving way. No brake lights strobe the gloom.
• 14:18 – Cyclist Johaar Davids dials emergency services while his GoPro captures a mushroom-cloud of pale dust.
• 14:31 – Rescuers abseil sixty-nine metres to the crumpled shell. The driver repeats in Afrikaans, “I saved them, I saved them,” while the boys remain silent.

Courts, Confessions, and a Country’s Conscience

From Hospital Bed to Dock

The driver woke in Tygerberg Hospital with fractured ribs and a separated shoulder. Police officers arrested her bedside the next morning. Three days later she stared at her own reflection in a stainless-steel mirror, asking a nurse whether the boys had scrapes on their knees. No one answered.

Months of Observation

December 2021–March 2022: thirty-three days inside Valkenberg Psychiatric Hospital. Dr Babalwa Mqalo’s panel found major depressive disorder with anxious distress, yet concluded intent had not been erased by illness. The accused could still distinguish right from wrong; the law sharpened its pencil.

The Trial’s Bends

• 4 October 2022 – She pleads not guilty to three counts of murder, then later admits factual guilt under section 112(1)(b) once prosecutors stretched the premeditation window to the full seventy-eight-minute climb from town to crash site.
• 23 May 2024 – Magistrate Lindelwa Matakata returns a verdict of premeditated murder on all three counts.
• 7 August 2026 – Sentencing will decide whether rest-home or prison becomes her final address.

Outside the court, journalists replay cellphone clips of the accused shielding her eyes from flashbulbs. Talk-radio callers argue about geriatric depression, foster-care gridlock, and the blurred border between mercy and malice. In a nearby café, a truck driver scribbles the phrase “seventy-eight minutes” on a napkin and stares at it until the ink bleeds.

Data, Desire, and the Mountain’s Shadow

What the Black Box Whispered

The Avanza’s Event Data Recorder preserved sixty-one frames in the final five seconds:

• −5.0 s: 87.3 km/h, throttle 34 % open, steering straight.
• −3.1 s: un-commanded drift right; indicators dark.
• −2.2 s: driver yanks 9.8 newton-metres left – the first unmistakable command.
• −1.1 s: brake switch off.
• −0.5 s: full left lock, accelerator lifts to 0 %.
• 0.0 s: airbags bloom.

Exhibit “EDR-7” glowed on a 27-inch screen while the courtroom held its breath; pixels plotted intent in real time.

Care That Ran in Circles

The boys had been removed from biological parents under section 150(1)(a) of the Children’s Act after tik-related neglect. A great-aunt waited to adopt, but an unsigned placement order languished in a regional office inbox. The accused feared the children would “age out” into the streets. She twice asked her pastor if God would forgive “a sin to spare innocents lifelong pain.” The warnings reached social services, yet no caseworker knocked on her door.

A Bench, Three Stones, and the Road Ahead

Engineers added 430 metres of steel Armco rated for 1.5 tonnes at 110 km/h. Reflective chevrons now blink every thirty-six metres. Barrier breaches dropped forty-two percent within eighteen months, yet engineers concede no metal can restrain decisiveness itself. At the lay-by opposite the rupture, hikers installed a modest granite bench. Tucked beneath is a matchbox with three smooth stones: one like an elephant, one like a lion, one like a bird mid-flap.

What was the cause of the fatal incident in Bainskloof Pass?

The fatal incident was caused by a 71-year-old woman deliberately driving her Toyota Avanza through a barrier on Bainskloof Pass. Forensic analysis of the car's data recorder and her subsequent confession confirmed it was a premeditated act, not an accident.

Who were the victims of this incident?

The victims were three young foster brothers: Joshua (2), Gradwell (5), and Caleb (8). They were passengers in the Toyota Avanza and were in the process of being adopted.

What was the driver's stated motive for her actions?

The driver stated her motive was to "save" the children from a hard life. Despite them being in foster care and on the verge of adoption, she feared they would "age out" into the streets and believed she was sparing them lifelong pain.

What was the condition of the Bainskloof Pass at the time of the incident?

Bainskloof Pass is a historic and challenging road. While it had new guardrails and stone parapets installed for safety, and an electronic warning board for high winds, there was nothing to alert to the psychological state of a driver. The specific barrier she drove through was designed to withstand glancing blows, but not a direct, deliberate impact.

What evidence confirmed the deliberate nature of the crash?

Multiple pieces of evidence pointed to a deliberate act. The car's Event Data Recorder (EDR) showed that in the final seconds, there was an "un-commanded drift right," followed by a deliberate steering correction to the left, no braking, and full left lock just before impact, which the forensics team called "deliberate, not desperate." Additionally, the driver confessed to the act, stating her intention to "save" the children, and her actions were deemed premeditated by the court.

What were the legal and mental health outcomes for the driver?

The driver was found to have major depressive disorder with anxious distress after observation at Valkenberg Psychiatric Hospital. However, medical experts concluded that her illness did not negate her intent, as she could still distinguish right from wrong. She initially pleaded not guilty to three counts of murder but later admitted factual guilt. On May 23, 2024, she was found guilty of premeditated murder on all three counts, with sentencing scheduled for August 7, 2026.