It’s strike three for DA Eastern Cape legislature leader Nqaba Bhanga after he drove into the back of fellow party member and Buffalo City Metro councillor Fred Pohl’s car while on a municipal oversight visit at Qonce on Friday.
Bhanga has now been involved in three vehicle accidents with varying degrees of severity, and there are signs senior DA leaders may no longer be enamoured with him.
Reporters were told by a DA insider, who insisted on remaining anonymous, that the trio of accidents pointed to “a pattern of reckless behaviour... which either endangered the public or himself [Bhanga] and damaged the reputation of the institution he serves and the reputation of the party”.
In the latest incident, a vehicle driven by Bhanga was close behind one driven by Pohl as a convoy of DA BCM caucus members travelled from a meeting in Qonce to view a housing project at Breidbach.
When Pohl braked at the start of major roadworks a few kilometres outside Qonce, Bhanga slammed into him, causing “substantial damage” to both cars.
Both drivers played down the accident. Bhanga said: “I just lost concentration and hit the other car on the bumper. There are road signs there [but] I was just distracted. I think I looked down”.
Pohl described the rear-ender as “probably” due to “a lapse in concentration. It was an unfortunate incident, it could happen to anyone. I slowed down and the next minute somebody ran into the back of me”.
But the leaking from within the DA leadership of an image of Bhanga on the N2 standing next to the vehicle he was driving, accompanied by a comment that the image’s sender felt “obligated” to do so, suggests that some within the party may be losing patience with Bhanga’s lapses involving motor vehicles.
Friday’s accident called to mind two previous incidents involving Bhanga behind the wheel of a vehicle.
Last year, Bhanga was involved in a horrific late-night accident on the R75 near Algoa Park in Gqeberha — past the Covid-19 curfew deadline — which claimed the lives of two people in another car. Bhanga also sustained serious injuries in that collision. Police are still investigating a case of culpable homicide, while prosecutors have not taken any decision.
In 2018, Bhanga was allegedly behind the wheel of the Toyota involved in an accident on Bonza Bay Road, Beacon Bay.
Police confirmed a drunk driving case had been opened in that matter but that it was withdrawn in court due to delays in the results of a blood sample being received from the police laboratory.
Bhanga denied that a drunk driving charge had been instituted or subsequently withdrawn against him in BCM.
The DA leader said this week that “people are very scared of me — there are people who don’t like what I’m doing and try to disrupt my work. I don’t understand what kind of people would [leak information about the accident]. I’m serving people. There is a bigger project for us to save SA”.
He added that he was used to “dirty politics”.
Friday’s accident had traumatised him and brought back memories of the Algoa Park accident. He declined to comment on the Algoa Park accident, except to call on the SAPS to finish the investigation.
DA provincial chair Andrew Whitfield confirmed that the latest incident involving Bhanga had been reported to the party structures.
“We are happy that Mr Bhanga is not harmed and that nobody else was harmed in the accident.”
He concurred with Pohl’s suggestion that the accident was due to a lapse in concentration on Bhanga’s part which could have happened to anyone.
Whitfield declined to comment when asked if the leaking of information about the accident from within DA ranks pointed to unhappiness with Bhanga’s actions.
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