One of the people who survived the South African bus crash that claimed 42 lives, who included Zimbabweans, says moments before the accident that left scores of passengers dead, the driver had been speeding and narrowly escape a head-on collision.
“I saw it with my own eyes. The bus was travelling at high speed and he was getting into a head-on collision but managed to control the bus,” said Chaoma Mukondiona from Zimbabwe.
The 25-year-old man said petrified passengers had scolded the driver afterwards.
“You must drive carefully, we don't want trouble,” he said the passengers shouted.
Mukondiona, who had boarded the bus in East London, Eastern Cape, said he got tired of standing along the way and decided to sleep on the floor as he had not been able to get a seat in the overcrowded bus.
He found a spot on the aisle and fell asleep.
“The last thing I remember before falling asleep was that the bus was travelling at high speed. Then I woke up in hospital. I was terrified.”
Over 80 people were believed to have been travelling in the bus that overturned on the N1 near Louis Trichardt, in a mountainous section of the road. Forty-two died and 49 were taken to hospital.
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“According to preliminary reports, the bus is believed to have been transporting passengers from Zimbabwe and Malawi, who were travelling from the Eastern Cape to their home countries when it veered off the road along a steep mountain pass and plunged down an embankment,” said Thilivhali Muavha, spokesperson for Limpopo premier Phophi Ramathuba.
Mukondiona, who works at a poultry factory in Mthatha, said he had not been happy to get into the bus and find that there were no available seats. Though him and other passengers complained, he said he decided to board anyway as he had important things to do back home, including sitting down for an exam and buying a cow for a ceremony for his late grandfather.
“Lying in hospital, I realised that it was bad for me as I had important things to do at home.”
Mukondiona said he lost his academic certificates as well as R2 500 cash and clothes had bought for his parents.
Despite all that, Mukondiona is grateful to be alive.
“It is a miracle to be found alive while others died. My God is with me,” he said,
Another passenger, Willard Suweni from Machinga, Malawi, corroborated the statement about speeding and general reckless driving.
Suweni said the first sign of trouble was when he overheard the two drivers complaining about the brakes, saying they were not ok and they would have to remove the trailer as it was too full.
He said the other passengers overheard it and they were confused and conversed among themselves as to what would happen to the trailer.
The trailer was never removed and the journey continued from Gqeberha, where he boarded, to its next stop in East London.
Suweni said after a smoother ride earlier in the journey, everything changed in Bloemfontein as the driver started “speeding.”
He said the passengers started complaining, saying: “Please, try to slow down. We have young children.”
However, he said, the driver continued speeding all the way to Limpopo, where at one point took a bend so dangerously that everyone was shocked into silence.
“No one could talk at that point,” he recalled.
Suweni said he was looking forward to seeing his wife and three children whom he last saw four years ago. He said he sent home the money he earned as a farmworker to pay for school fees for his children.
He was going to disembark in Harare and get a connecting bus to Blantyre.
“Many other people in the bus had not seen their families in years,” he said.
Suweni said the bus and its trailer were already overloaded when it left Gqeberha. He said some people refused to board in East London.
He explained that the crash in Limpopo happened after the driver lost control of the bus.
“It got off the road and he battled to steer it back because the overloaded trailer was making it difficult for the bus to stay on the road.
“Before the bus overturned, a lot of screaming and children crying filled the bus.”
Suweni said everything went dark and he woke up in an ambulance. But not all of his fellow passengers were so lucky.
“There was a guy from Zimbabwe behind me, with his wife and small daughter. There was also another guy with his wife and child too. They are all dead.
“Lot of children lost their parents in the crash. I don't know how I got out, it could only be God,” he said.
As he had not gone home in four years, he had bought his wife and children cellphones as well as shoes and clothes. He lost all the items in the crash.
He has decided to stay home in Blantyre with his family and not return to South Africa.
Sowetan reached out to DNC Coaches, the company that owns the bus that was involved in the crash. However, they did not answer calls nor respond to the message.
While investigations into the crash are still ongoing, Ramathuba – who visited the crash scene – said fatigue could not be ruled out as another key factor to the accident. —Sowetan
