16 years after Buttskop Road tragedy, City plans Blackheath railway crossing removal
Valerie Phillips says the City’s plan to remove the Buttskop railway crossing where her son Jody died in 2010 comes years too late, but hopes it will prevent other families from enduring the same loss.
Image: File
Sixteen years after 13-year-old Jody Phillips was killed at the Buttskop railway crossing in Blackheath, the City of Cape Town says the crossing could finally be removed.
On August 25, 2010, Jody left home for school like any other morning. He never came back.
The scholar transport taxi carrying him and other pupils overtook vehicles waiting at the closed boom at the level crossing and was struck by an oncoming train. The driver survived.
Ten children died that day: Liesl Augis, 11; Jody Phillips, 13; Reece Smith, 7; Nolan February, 13; Michaelin de Koker, 11; Jason Pedro, 14; Nadine Marthinissen, 16; Jean-Pierre Willeman, 13; Cody Erasmus, 15; and Jade Adams, 10.
The driver, Jacob Humphreys was convicted in 2011 of 10 counts of murder and four of attempted murder and sentenced to 20 years in prison. The Supreme Court of Appeal later reduced his sentence to eight years and replaced the murder convictions with culpable homicide. He was granted parole in 2018.
Now, the City has proposed the permanent closure of a section of Buttskop Road and the construction of a grade-separated bridge as part of the Zevenwacht link road extension.
A preliminary design for the removal of the crossing was completed in 2019. Frederick Street was realigned in 2020 as a short-term safety measure in collaboration with Prasa and the Rail Safety Regulator. Residents are being invited to comment on the proposal.
For Jody’s mother, Valerie Phillips, the announcement brings a rush of emotion.
“It should’ve happened sooner even before 2010, before the accident happened and then we wouldn’t have had to go through all this pain,” she said.
Sixteen years later, the railway line still feels like an open wound.
“Even if you drive down that road, it always opens up wounds. That’s a wound that will never heal 100 percent. You will never feel okay,” she said.
She still keeps the lunch she packed for Jody that morning Henties juice and a Tex chocolate in her fridge. It remains untouched, a small reminder of a day that never ended.
“It doesn’t bring back our children, but to prevent anything similar to what happened to them, just to prevent it from happening to other people."
. City calling for comments on closure of Buttskop Road, Blackheath.
Image: City of Cape Town
‘We urge residents to please comment on the proposal for the closure of this portion of Buttskop Road in Blackheath. The proposed changes will allow for a permanent solution, which will see a substantial increase in the overall safety for all road users in the area. The Buttskop rail level crossing has been the subject of several rail and road safety investigations in recent years due to the number of fatal crashes at this location and we would appreciate the input from the community on these important plans,’ said the City’s Mayco Member for Urban Mobility, Councillor Rob Quintas.
To eliminate the Buttskop level crossing, the City developed a permanent solution: a single carriageway along the future N7, including a bridge over the rail line, new signalised intersections at Albert Philander Road and Van Riebeeck Road. This follows a 2020 short-term safety realignment of Frederick Street.
The permanent plan requires:
Required road closures include: Buttskop Road north of Trafford Street (including the Buttskop/Van Riebeeck intersection) and partial mid-block closure of Meadow Road.
Public Open Days (Blackheath Community Hall, Evergreen Drive, Austinville):
- February 24 2026: 16:00-19:00
- February 26 2026: 12:00-15:00
View the layout/report and submit input between 25 February and 25 March 2026 at [www.capetown.gov.za/haveyoursay].