A Cape Town woman helped lead police to the hit-and-run driver who allegedly killed respected cyclist Koos Roux.
|||Cape Town - A Cape Town woman has helped lead police to the hit-and-run driver who allegedly killed respected cyclist Koos Roux.
Roux, 59, of Blommendal, was killed in Bottelary Road on May 12, while out on an early-morning ride with his son, Kobus, a student at Stellenbosch University.
Roux was a former national cycling champion - having won a gold in his age group at the national track championship in 2011 - and held a senior position at the Kirstenbosch Botanical Garden.
On Wednesday, police spokesman Andre Traut confirmed that a 51-year-old Cape Town man handed himself over to police shortly before 10am.
“He was on the run, laying low, but the detective work continued,” Traut said.
“The vehicle involved in the accident, a VW Polo Classic, was confiscated and will be examined.”
One of the women involved in tracking down the driver was Mickey de Beer, of Kraaifontein, a close friend of Roux’s widow, Beth.
De Beer said a friend’s niece saw a report about the tragedy on Facebook.
“She knew about the accident because it was near her house. She asked if anyone had been arrested.”
De Beer was then told by the source that a smashed car had been brought into the complex in which she lived - and she was concerned.
“We struggled to get the police to go there, between 6 and 9pm on Saturday.
“But I kept on phoning. And when they did come, the looked and said: ‘No, it was a bakkie’.”
But De Beer did not relent, and continued to phone police. And her tenacity paid off.
Police towed away the car on Wednesday morning.
De Beer had been with Roux when they received the news, and she told the Cape Argus: “There were a lot of tears - we are all so relieved.”
Roux, in turn, said she was grateful to those who had helped track the driver down.
Cape Argus