From the Editor’s Desk
August 28, 2026

Life can be snuffed out in a matter of seconds – sometimes by forces completely beyond our control. I’m sure that by now most readers have seen the horrific images and videos coming out of Nepal, where a catastrophic flash flood on the border with Tibet, China, destroyed homes, roads and bridges – and took hundreds of lives. The numbers are still changing as rescue teams search through mountains of mud and debris. At the time of writing, the death toll was nearing 400 and more than 1 400 people were reported missing across Nepal and Tibet, including six South Africans.

People were going about their daily lives. Tourists were travelling. And then, in a matter of moments, an enormous wall of water, rock, mud and debris came roaring through the valleys. There was virtually no time to react. The sheer power of what happened is almost impossible to describe in words. If you haven’t seen the footage, the video in the link below gives some idea of the terrifying scale of the flood. If you can’t access it from this link, do a search for the Nepal flood and you’ll pick up something, somewhere. It’s been all over social media and international news channels. https://www.instagram.com/reel/Dcg4poxgGuA/?igsi=NTZocWk0em5lZjg0

Watching those images brought another tragedy to mind – one much closer to home. On 5 September 2013, people in Pinetown, KwaZulu-Natal, were also going about their daily business. People were travelling to work and school, sitting in taxis and cars waiting at a traffic light. Then, as the robots changed to green and the vehicles moved forward, a truck came hurtling down Field’s Hill and crashed into the traffic at the intersection. Twenty-seven people died. The images from that crash remain among the most disturbing ever seen on South African roads. You can see the crash here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4yssf1F9hyI

The two tragedies could hardly be more different. In Nepal, it was an extraordinary natural disaster – a catastrophic release of water, rock, mud and ice. In KwaZulu-Natal, it was a road tragedy involving a truck with defective brakes. But there is one thing that connects them. The people who died in both incidents were simply going about their lives when the unexpected arrived.

That is what has stayed with me while watching the Nepal footage. We cannot always predict when nature will unleash something of that magnitude. However, in trucking, there are things we can control. We can make sure our trucks are properly maintained. We can make sure braking systems are inspected, tested and maintained. We can make sure tyres, steering, suspension and all the other safety-critical components are in proper working order. We can make sure drivers are properly trained and understand the vehicles they are entrusted to operate. And, perhaps most importantly, we can make sure that commercial pressure never becomes more important than safety. Because when something goes wrong with a heavy truck, the ‘deadly’ consequences often fall on the innocent people around it.

That is the heartbreaking lesson of Field’s Hill. And that is why, while watching the terrible scenes from Nepal, I couldn’t help thinking about that tragedy all over again. In Nepal, it was a wall of water. On Field’s Hill, it was a wall of steel. Both left devastation in their wake. We cannot always avoid the unexpected. The Nepal tragedy is one such example. But for truck operators, the unexpected can be avoided. That’s really all I want to say. It’s just so very sad – and I feel it.

Patrick O’Leary
Managing Editor, FleetWatch