Bus accident trail continues
Mathebula told the court that the driver was not found at the driver’s seat after the accident and he had not seen him ever since.
NELSPRUIT – The trial of a bus driver accused of killing four pupils including their teacher and attempting to kill 62 others began in the Nelspruit High Court.
In July 2010 Mr Goodboy Ngomane (41) from Mahushu was hired to transport Grade 4 learners of Khokhobela Primary School from Mala to Pretoria on a school’s trip.
On their return Ngomane’s bus was involved in an accident with the train while he attempting to cross over the railway.
Three learners and one their teachers were killed on the spot while others sustained injuries. Mr Sydney Mathebula a teacher from the said school testified in court that he and the deceased teacher organised the educational trip to Pretoria leaners visited the Zoological Garden and the Union Building.
He said their plan was for the learners to leave Pretoria around midnight so they could be at the school around 05:00 in the following morning.
“Things didn’t go as planned as the driver told us that he didn’t have a bath the previous night and needed to get back home to his wife. As a result we left Pretoria by 20:00,” he said.
He continued to testify that from Pretoria, the driver went to the bus’s owner’s place in Mahushu and came out mumbling and grumbling about his tiredness.
“By the time we reached the police station we pleaded with him to take one teacher to Rolle village because it was still very dark for her to go on her own,”
Mathebula testified that Ngomane stopped the bus and told them that he was not hired to take individuals to their homes and was not prepared to drive on a dusty road.
“We explained to him that we gave him reasons why we had planned to leave Pretoria late but due to the circumstances we had to use the dust road,” he said. This according to Mathebula happened between 02:15 to 02:20. He said after negotiations the driver agreed to drop the teacher at the said place. He said the drove and while the bus was crossing the railway he collided with the train.
Mathebula told the court that the driver was not found at the driver’s seat after the accident and he had not seen him ever since.
The matter still continues in court.
