A well-known Boland rugby referee, his wife and three of their five children have been killed in a car crash.
|||Cape Town - The death of a Boland rugby referee, his wife and three of their five children in a car crash has left their community, family and friends heartbroken and in shock.
Willie Blankenberg, 39, his wife Dorothea, 38, and children Wilbur, 7, Andre-Wealer, 15, and Dorenika, 4, were travelling in the family’s Fiat Uno when they collided with a Toyota Hilux on Paarl Main Road at 2am on Sunday.
Blankenberg’s father, Ernest, said from his home in Wellington on Monday:
“My heart is sore, I can’t believe it. It hurts a lot.”
Willie was his only son. He has three daughters.
“The police came knocking at my door at around 3am. We went to the scene of the accident, but it was cordoned off and we weren’t allowed to see anything.”
He added that his 12-year-old grandson Danwill was finding it very difficult to come to terms with the death of his parents.
He and his brother Ernest, 18, were not involved in the crash.
Family, friends and teachers poured into the grandparents’ home on Monday.
Surita Blankenberg, Willie’s sister, said they were a very close family.
“He and I were very close to each other. They visited us on Friday and little Dorenika jumped around a lot, she was wearing new clothes.”
Marianna Samuels, Dorothea’s sister, said her older sibling was a good mother and a lovely person.
“Her two sons are staying with me at the moment, because they say there are too many memories at their house.
“This has been such a huge shock and extremely difficult to come to terms with.”
Chris Bam, principal at Nieuwe Drift Primary, which the three children attended, said pupils and teachers were deeply saddened.
“The children were crying and the Department of Education is giving counselling.”
He added that the mood at school were extremely sombre: “We had to send some of our staff members home... We have great support from the school governing body and the community is standing together.”
The funeral will take place at 12pm on Sunday.
Police said the driver of the Hilux had reported the incident to them. He was not arrested. A case of culpable has been opened. - Cape Argus