Christmas came early for opportunistic skelms smaaking for a dop after a bakkie transporting shebeen supplies flipped on the N1.
It was happy hour on Monday near the Joostenbergvlakte off-ramp, where boxes of wine and six-packs of beer could be seen strewn on the side of the highway.
It was not a happy day for a shebeen owner from Kraaifontein who apparently lost big business when the white truck took a nasty spill.
When the Daily Voice arrived on the scene, people from the surrounding area were helping themselves to the free dop.
Police and traffic officials arrived a short while later to assist the driver and clear the road for traffic.
A 40-year-old tow truck driver, who was first on the scene, said he saw the driver getting out of the bakkie, which lay on its side, and luckily he showed no sign of injuries.
“He did, however, have his hands full with people running up to the load and collecting from the scattered alcohol. He had to throw them with the wyn to hold them back until police and traffic officers came to the rescue,” the man said.
Jimmy Paulse of Kraaifontein couldn’t believe his luck.
“I [had to] help myself to lekker five-litre Four Cousins for the visitors I will be having. You can’t still be picky when it’s Christmas, especially when the liquor is free like manna from the heavens,” he said happily.
Later, the shebeen owner sent family members to the scene to salvage what remained of the Christmas stock.
The bakkie was tipped upright and towed away.
Police spokesperson, Captain FC van Wyk, says no criminal case was registered or accident report was made.
saafia.february@inl.co.za