Driver Nkosinathi Maphukade's aunt Deborah Nyathi could barely walk as she was overcome by emotions.
She said her nephew from Idutywa, Eastern Cape, was an experienced driver who had been in the transport business since he was 18.
“I'm speechless, he has been a driver all his life, he worked as a driver for the mortuary, and drove taxis between Eastern Cape and Gauteng. He has been transporting children to school for many years. I do not know what I'm going to tell his wife and son,” she said.
Tsietsi Mtyilibe, uncle to Thandeka Mtyilibe, the pupil from Laërskool Blyvooruitsig, said the family is distraught and the girl's mother had to be taken to the hospital because of shock.
“We are hurting and did not expect that something like this would happen. Her parents are in hospital now as we speak because her mother could not handle the shock. Thandeka was a sweet girl, very shy but full of life. There is nothing we can do, we just have to accept what happened,” he said.
I thought I was going to find my child in shock and take him home – father who lost son in accident
“I thought I was going to find my child in shock, dust him off and take him home to spend the rest of the day recovering.”
These are the heartbreaking words of a father of a 10-year-old boy who is among 13 people who died after a scholar transport accident.
Bobby Makinta said he was at work when he received a call informing him about the accident between a minibus taxi and a bakkie on the N12 near Elands road in the Kokosi-Wedela area in Merafong, on the West Rand.
Gauteng Traffic spokesperson Sello Maremane said they were all burnt beyond recognition.
Tsiamo Makinta, a grade 4 pupil at Rocklands Primary School, his 10 schoolmates, a pupil from Laërskool Blyvooruitsig in Carletonville and their driver perished in the crash.
“I got a call at work around 8.15am, telling me Tshiamo's transport was involved in an accident. I informed my employer and went to the scene. I didn't think much of it. I thought I will find him in shock, dust him off and just take him home to recover,” he said.
“But when I got to the scene, the area was cordoned off and we were told only seven or eight people survived. I then went to the hospital and he was not on the list of those who survived. His mother is not coping, Tsiamo was our only child,” he said.
Gauteng department of education spokesperson Steve Mabona said: “It is alleged that the learner transport was hit from behind by a bakkie, causing it to overturn and subsequently catch fire. Police are investigating the circumstances surrounding this horrific incident.
“The department has already dispatched its psycho-social support team to the school to provide immediate support and to work closely with the school and affected families. Counselling services will be made available to all learners and staff members to help them cope with the emotional aftermath of this tragedy.”
A police officer, who spoke to Sowetan on condition of anonymity, said the footage from the N12 estimates the accident to have occurred around 6.45am.
“The camera is far to have captured the actual accident but you can see the cars turning off the N12 around 6.45am in the video. As you can see, you can walk from where the accident is to where the cameras are but the distance and angle is too far to show the accident. What happened to those children is terrible. The youngest victim is eight years old,” said the officer.
Driver Nkosinathi Maphukade's aunt Deborah Nyathi could barely walk as she was overcome by emotions.
She said her nephew from Idutywa, Eastern Cape, was an experienced driver who had been in the transport business since he was 18.
“I'm speechless, he has been a driver all his life, he worked as a driver for the mortuary, and drove taxis between Eastern Cape and Gauteng. He has been transporting children to school for many years. I do not know what I'm going to tell his wife and son,” she said.
Tsietsi Mtyilibe, uncle to Thandeka Mtyilibe, the pupil from Laërskool Blyvooruitsig, said the family is distraught and the girl's mother had to be taken to the hospital because of shock.
“We are hurting and did not expect that something like this would happen. Her parents are in hospital now as we speak because her mother could not handle the shock. Thandeka was a sweet girl, very shy but full of life. There is nothing we can do, we just have to accept what happened,” he said.