Africa-Press – South-Africa. School transportation has yet again been thrust into the spotlight after two Grade 5 pupils were killed in separate incidents within a week in Mitchells Plain.
In both incidents, the pupils were allegedly travelling in private transport vehicles that were overloaded.
In the first incident, on 18 April, 11-year-old Lina Dyantyi was travelling from Khayelitsha to Hazeldene Primary School when the driver of the vehicle she was in allegedly went through a red robot and crashed into a fence.
Lina was flung out of the vehicle and landed on tarred ground at the Swartklip dumping site.
Her grief-stricken mother, Zukella, said police told her the driver was drunk and was speeding.
“I am very angry and sad. He was not supposed to be drunk fetching our children from school,” she said.
She said:
The heartbroken mother added that her nephew, who was also in the vehicle, had told the driver to “reduce his speed”.
“The driver did not listen,” an emotional Zukella added.
She said that neither the driver nor the transport company owner tried to call the family to apologise or explain what had happened.
“No apology was given for taking my child’s life. I was at work when I got the call to say there was an accident. Immediately I rushed to the scene where my daughter was still lying. It was terrible to see her there; it was hard to see her like that,” Zukella said.
Describing her little girl as a “lovely child who loved to sing”, Zukella said Lina would always tell her how much she loved her.
“She’d sing for me day and night and always had a smile on her face. My heart is broken that my child is never coming back,” she said.
Western Cape police spokesperson, Captain FC van Wyk, said a culpable homicide, reckless and negligent driving case was registered.
“The accused is an undocumented person from Zimbabwe and has appeared in the Khayelitsha Magistrate’s Court already,” Van Wyk stated.
Hazeldene Primary School held a memorial service for the Grade 5 pupil on Tuesday.
Her classmates sang, lit candles and recited each letter of Lina’s name
Acting school principal Shereen Firth said: “Lina touched many students’ and teachers’ lives with the type of person she was, and judging by the way the learners and teachers commemorated her life, it was clear that she impacted many people’s lives.
“When I got the news that Lina is no more, it was devastating,” Firth added.
Lina will be buried on Saturday in the Eastern Cape.
Separately, on Monday, a Rocklands Primary School Grade 5 boy also died in a Mitchells Plain hospital after the Toyota Quantum he was travelling in overturned.
Van Wyk said the Quantum collided with a BMW at the corner of Marguerite Street and AZ Berman Drive, just after 08:00.
A culpable homicide case is under investigation.
“The Toyota Quantum, at the time of the incident, was transporting 24 passengers, all scholars from various schools across Mitchells Plain. One of the children, a boy…was taken to a nearby hospital with serious injuries and later succumbed due to injuries sustained,” said Van Wyk.
The other children were treated on the scene or taken to nearby hospitals with minor injuries.
“No arrest as yet, and the cause of the accident is currently under investigation,” Van Wyk added.
Byron de Villiers from the Lentegeur community policing forum expressed concern about overloaded scholar transport in the area.
De Villiers said:
He called on Transport MEC Ricardo Mackenzie to devise a plan to make school transport safer.
“We are also going to request that those transporting school children be screened to make sure that they are not perpetrators of crime against our children,” De Villiers added.
South African National Taxi Association spokesperson Mandla Hermanus said law enforcement must ensure scholar transport providers were regulated.
“It cannot be that a taxi that should be carrying 15 passengers is found carrying almost double that number. The City’s by-laws, which focus solely on impounding vehicles and allowing drivers to get away with reckless driving, are contributing to the increase in errant driving on our roads,” Hermanus added.
Western Cape Department of Education spokesperson Bronagh Hammond confirmed that the vehicles in both crashes were privately owned and not contracted by the department.
Education MEC David Maynier said the tragic loss of young pupils should never have happened.
“I am deeply concerned by reports that the taxi was overloaded. We will monitor the progress of the investigation closely. We offer our deepest condolences to the parents and school and ask that their privacy is respected as they grieve,” Maynier added.
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