Parents of the children that died in a bus accident in Wedela, Carltonville, don’t know where the bodies of their children are.The MEC is worried that ever since he took over it’s been one tragedy after another.The parents were told that they would get the information from the school principal who happened to be clueless about it.The parents of Sakhiwe Songwaxa (17) who was in grade 10 said they had no idea which mortuary their child was taken to.

WORRIED ABOUT THEIR WHEREABOUTS

The family’s spokesman Sindiso Songwaxa said he can’t say much because they were worried about their child’s whereabouts. He said he was shocked to discover that the principal was also clueless. “The police told us that they would inform the school principal where the bodies were transported to. Here he is right now telling us that he also doesn’t know.”
Songwaxa said they were almost hit by a double tragedy because the deceased 14-year-old sister was also in the bus.
“She is in currently in hospital and not doing well at all. These buses have been a problem because even on Monday the girl had to walk from school to home because their bus was stuck. We are glad her life was spared but somebody needs to be held accountable for this.”The family of Lineo Makoae (16) also in grade 10 said they are still trying to come to terms with their loss.
“We are still processing everything but soon we will start planning the funeral. It’s sad because initially these buses were stopped from fetching the children during the second and third term because they were a problem. They took the department to court and that’s why they were brought back to kill our children.”
?

PARENTS TELL MEC ABOUT THE BAD STATE OF BUSES

The MEC for Education in Gauteng Matome Chiloane visited the school and families of the deceased. He was shown the bad state of the buses and told off by parents who labelled the buses as coffins. “It’s been a difficult day for the community of Wedela as this Incident  is painful and unexpected. When the kids are at home they belong to the parents but as soon as they board scholar  buses they are mine and I need to make sure they are taken care of,” said Chiloane. He explained that they need to enforce regulations in the scholar transport  industry so that they can be reputable service providers .
“I saw the condition of those buses in Wedela and I’m shocked of their state. We need to take decisive action that we know our children will commute in roadworthy transport and not coffins. We do feel their pain and will support the families of the deceased and the survivors.
We took a decision that those buses will no longer transport the children. Better buses were brought in, however I will take the words of a parent who said you can’t bring back a child from the dead but you can fix a broken bus,”said Chiloane.
According to information the incident occurred around the Western Deep mine shaft #2 on Thursday afternoon as learners were being transported home.
It is alleged that the driver lost control of the bus and caused an accident that led to  learners, who were on board, being injured and hospitalised at the local medical facility.Two of the learners died at the scene and 63 were injured.