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Killer bus 'unlicensed and not roadworthy'

FILE PICTURE: The bus in the accident in which three students were killed rests against a tree into which it crashed. Pic. Elijar Mushiana. 06/2008.
FILE PICTURE: The bus in the accident in which three students were killed rests against a tree into which it crashed. Pic. Elijar Mushiana. 06/2008.

Frank Maponya and Victor Hlungwani

The bus involved in the accident in which three students died at the weekend was not roadworthy and was travelling with a false licence disc, police said yesterday.

A Limpopo police investigator, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the disc was from a car which apparently belonged to the bus's owner , Amos Kgabi.

The source said there were also a lot of things that indicated the bus was not roadworthy.

"Preliminary investigations have revealed beyond doubt that the bus in which the students were travelling was not roadworthy," the source said.

"We are still conducting more investigations and hope to reveal everything once the investigations are complete."

Kgabi said he was not aware that the bus was not roadworthy and put down the phone when asked why the bus was displaying a disc belonging to a car registered in his name.

The bus was ferrying University of Limpopo students to a funeral when it careered out of control on Saturday near Giyani and hit a tree.

The victims died on impact a few kilometers from Giyani after its front left tyre allegedly burst.

The dead were identified as University of Limpopo students Doreen Nhlangwana and Mizah Mashele, and University of Venda student Wisani Mabuza.

Meanwhile, Malesela Kgabi, the driver of the bus, was released on R1000 bail after appearing in the Giyani magistrate's court yesterday.

He was charged with culpable homicide, reckless driving and driving an unroadworthy vehicle.

The case was postponed to July 10.

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