"I APPRECIATE you helping out with the funeral, but will that bring my daughter back?"
This was the response of a heartbroken mother after being told that the government would pay for her daughter's funeral expenses.
Beauty Kamudi's daughter Mathabiso Kamudi died with her lover Mike Motswiri when a bus ploughed into their house in Braamfischerville near Dobsonville, Soweto, on Tuesday morning.
"I am sick," Kamudi said. "I have asthma, arthritis and high blood pressure, who will help me now that she is gone? When you are gone, who will be left to help me? I saw those bricks on top of my child. Putco will never give her back to us. They can say that the driver has been working for 15 years without an accident but now it has happened ... and my child is gone."
Kamudi said that while at the scene police refused to let her see Mathabiso.
"I wanted to help my child. From five [o'clock] in the morning until 11.30am, the police did not want me to go into the house. They did not want me to see my child, instead the officer at the scene said he would shoot me."
Mathabiso, 33, will be buried in Zeerust in the North West next weekend, while Motswiri, 44, will be buried in Braamfischerville, also next week.
Yesterday, Transport Minister Sbu Ndebele, Gauteng MEC for roads and transport Ishmael Vadi, Putco management and Road Accident Fund representatives visited the Kamudi and Motswiri families to convey their condolences.
Ndebele told both families that the Road Accident Fund and Putco would pay for the costs of the funeral. The bus company has also pledged that it would rebuild and furnish the damaged house.
Ndebele also visited the accident scene.
"I came here because even though we deal with accidents every day, this one is different in that people were sleeping in their house . We will try and help the family as much as we can," he said.
Moss Mashao, Motswiri's uncle, said: "We thank everyone for helping us. The family has not finalised the funeral arrangements yet."
The Putco bus driver apparently lost control of the vehicle and hit a car before crashing into the house. Thirty-six people were injured, four of them seriously. Putco managing director Franco Pisapia said the driver was still recovering in hospital.
The driver faces two counts of culpable homicide while the woman who was driving the Chevrolet is also expected to face criminal charges.
Funeral help won't bring my child back
"I APPRECIATE you helping out with the funeral, but will that bring my daughter back?"
This was the response of a heartbroken mother after being told that the government would pay for her daughter's funeral expenses.
Beauty Kamudi's daughter Mathabiso Kamudi died with her lover Mike Motswiri when a bus ploughed into their house in Braamfischerville near Dobsonville, Soweto, on Tuesday morning.
"I am sick," Kamudi said. "I have asthma, arthritis and high blood pressure, who will help me now that she is gone? When you are gone, who will be left to help me? I saw those bricks on top of my child. Putco will never give her back to us. They can say that the driver has been working for 15 years without an accident but now it has happened ... and my child is gone."
Kamudi said that while at the scene police refused to let her see Mathabiso.
"I wanted to help my child. From five [o'clock] in the morning until 11.30am, the police did not want me to go into the house. They did not want me to see my child, instead the officer at the scene said he would shoot me."
Mathabiso, 33, will be buried in Zeerust in the North West next weekend, while Motswiri, 44, will be buried in Braamfischerville, also next week.
Yesterday, Transport Minister Sbu Ndebele, Gauteng MEC for roads and transport Ishmael Vadi, Putco management and Road Accident Fund representatives visited the Kamudi and Motswiri families to convey their condolences.
Ndebele told both families that the Road Accident Fund and Putco would pay for the costs of the funeral. The bus company has also pledged that it would rebuild and furnish the damaged house.
Ndebele also visited the accident scene.
"I came here because even though we deal with accidents every day, this one is different in that people were sleeping in their house . We will try and help the family as much as we can," he said.
Moss Mashao, Motswiri's uncle, said: "We thank everyone for helping us. The family has not finalised the funeral arrangements yet."
The Putco bus driver apparently lost control of the vehicle and hit a car before crashing into the house. Thirty-six people were injured, four of them seriously. Putco managing director Franco Pisapia said the driver was still recovering in hospital.
The driver faces two counts of culpable homicide while the woman who was driving the Chevrolet is also expected to face criminal charges.
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