A witness broke down in tears on Thursday as she described a crash that claimed the life of former president Nelson Mandela’s great granddaughter.

Stacey-Lee Louters, a cousin of the driver, Sizwe Mankazana, was the second passenger in the Mercedes Benz when it crashed on the M1 in Johannesburg on June 11, 2010.

“I remember seeing the curb ahead and swerving… I remember two impacts,” she told the Johannesburg Magistrate’s Court.

“I realised I was okay… and I heard Sizwe.”

When she saw he was not injured badly, she looked for 13-year-old Zenani Mandela.

“I opened the door to see where Zenani was… I went around the car.” Louters burst into tears and did not complete the sentence.

The case was stood down briefly for Louters to compose herself.

Mankazana, 25, a friend of the Mandela family, faces a charge of culpable homicide and another of reckless or negligent driving.

He was taking Zenani home from a Soccer World Cup concert in his father’s car. They were on their way to Sandton when they hit a steel barrier, which penetrated the car.

By Sapa