A report from the Department of Transport, Safety, Security and Liaison revealed shocking evidence of what may have been the cause of a recent accident when a bus owned by Great North Transport (GNT) overturned on the George’s Valley road leaving ten passengers dead and scores injured.
The report compiled by a Deputy Director on Road Traffic and Safety states: “…and it was further reported that the driver indicated that the bus was non-roadworthy even before he undertook the journey to Moria and that he alerted the depot manager and was told to go.” It was further alleged in the report that patients who have been interviewed by the department at various hospitals indicated that the bus was travelling at high speed and was carrying more people than authorised to.
The Deputy Director also directed traffic stations in Phalaborwa, Tzaneen and Giyani to visit all GNT depots with the purpose of examining all the buses available and to discontinue those found not to be roadworthy with immediate effect.
At Phalaborwa depot 20 buses were checked and examined of which 14 were discontinued due to the poor conditions of the brakes, rear wheel stabilisers, worn-out shackle rubbers, loose seats, engine oil leaks and the absence of steps to enter the bus. Only six were declared roadworthy.
In Tzaneen ten out of 22 buses were found to have minor defects and subjected to the workshop for repairs while only four out of 13 buses from Giyani were roadworthy while the remaining nine were also subjected to the workshop after noticing several defects on the vehicles.
Departmental Spokesperson on Traffic Kagiso Mootane said the department and GNT agreed that all buses at the three depots would have been rechecked by Thursday. “I have not yet received a report on the rechecking of the buses but I can assure commuters that buses from GNT which are not roadworthy will not be allowed on the road this Easter,” Mootane said.
GNT acting Chief Executive Officer Nkhensani Hlungwane was not willing to comment on the matter. “I cannot comment on a report from the department and it would be better to revert back to them for more information. We have already issued press statements regarding the accident,” Hlungwane said.
GNT released two statements respectively one and two days after the accident. The first statement confirmed the death of ten people and informed that investigations were on course to determine the cause of the accident.
In the second press statement GNT indicated that their preliminary investigation report showed that the bus was in good mechanical condition on the day of the accident.
Story: RC Myburgh
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Photo: The terrifying scene of a GNT bus accident which claimed the lives of ten people on 6 March.
