Mass funeral for 23 accident victims

The Executive Council (Exco) and the families of 23 victims of the horrendous accident on the N1 near Kranskop on Friday have agreed to hold a mass memorial service and mass funeral in Senwabarwana.
This follows a special Exco meeting convened by Premier Stan Mathabatha on Tuesday to discuss funeral arrangements of the deceased. Provincial Government spokesperson Phuti Seloba stated that they were working closely with the bereaved families and Provincial Government had resorted to the mass funeral because the incident was unusual and they were treating it as a disaster.
He indicated that, while they were giving equal support to all the families involved, the Polokwane couple Pierre and Erika Bantjes would be cremated and a memorial service held for them in the city tomorrow (Friday). The mass memorial service was scheduled for yesterday (Wednesday) at Capricorn TVET College’s Senwabarwana campus while the mass funeral is expected to be held in Senwabarwana on Saturday. The truck driver is to be laid to rest in Ga-Chuene.
Seloba added that the Provincial Government would support the affected families financially, emotionally and otherwise as the accident had left many families broken.
It was learnt that Mathabatha had instituted a task team to handle the issues pertaining to the mass funeral. After the accident Mathabatha reportedly sent a strong message to both drivers and pedestrians to be careful on the roads.
A statement released by his spokesperson Kenny Mathivha quoted Mathabatha to have said “It is sad that we are losing such a high number of people during the month we call ‘Transport Month’. In a few days we will also be launching our Festive Season Road Traffic blitz.” He further called on traffic officials to tighten the screws and be merciless on reckless and non-roadworthy vehicles.

Story: ENDY SENYATSI
>>endy@observer.co.za