A suspected drunk-driver caused a car crash today that killed the 13-year-old great-granddaughter of Nelson Mandela, according to police.
The man, who has not been named, also faces a culpable homicide charge but has been released to await a further hearing.
The death of Zenani Mandela, who was on her way home from a pre-World Cup concert in Soweto, stunned South Africa on the day it was celebrating hosting the tournament.
Mandela, who turns 92 next month, pulled out of an eagerly anticipated appearance at the opening ceremony to stay at home with family. Jacob Zuma, the South African president, passed on a message from him that said: "The game must start. You must enjoy the game."
Zenani, , was one of the anti-apartheid icon's nine great-grandchildren. She died in a one-car accident and no one else was injured.
Her mother, Zoleka Seakamela, was "devastated", said Vuyisile Mafalala, a family spokesperson. Mandela's ex-wife, Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, was not in the car but was taken to hospital to be treated for shock.
Johannesburg Metro police said the driver of the car had been arrested and charged with drunk-driving and culpable homicide.
"The Metro police found that he was drunk," spokeswoman Edna Mamonyane said. "He lost control of the vehicle and it collided with a barricade."
In 1969, three years after arriving on Robben Island to serve a life sentence for sabotage, Mandela received a telegram informing him that his eldest son, Madiba Thembekile, had died in a car crash. Prison authorities refused to allow Mandela to attend the funeral.
"I do not have words to express the sorrow, or the loss I felt," Mandela wrote in his autobiography. "It left a hole in my heart that can never be filled."
Thirty-six years later, Mandela announced his last surviving son, Makgatho, had died of Aids-related complications, saying the only way to fight the disease's stigma was to speak openly.
Today, survivors of a bus crash that killed three British students on a college field trip to South Africa were said to be extremely traumatised by the tragedy. Eleanor Payne and Samantha Lake, both 19, were killed when their driver apparently lost control on a bend on Thursday morning. Fellow student Daniel Greenwood, 22, died later in hospital following emergency treatment.
They were among a group of 18 students and two teachers from Brooksby Melton College, in Leicestershire, and were studying for a foundation degree in animal management and welfare. They were on a wildlife study tour in the region and were travelling from Swaziland to Nelspruit to visit a monkey sanctuary when their bus overturned on the Bulembu road. The crash happened a few miles from Barberton, shortly after 11am local time.
Casualties, who ranged in age from 18 to 30, are understood to have suffered injuries ranging from a fractured spine to head and facial lacerations, broken ribs and collar bones.
Robin Baard, spokeswoman for the Nelspruit Medi Clinic, said two casualties remained in intensive care yesterday with another six in "high care" and three in the general wards. Six have been discharged from hospital and left their hotel yesterday to fly home.