MONDAY 9 SEPTEMBER
‘YOU are all going to die now, the bus has lost its brakes!’
These were the last chilling words remembered by one of the many terrified maidens seconds before their bus overturned and crashed into steel barriers on the R66 near Nkwalini last Sunday, which left 10 dead and 60 injured.
In an exclusive interview with the Zululand Observer and its sister publication Umlozi Wezindaba, a 17-year-old survivor at Ngwelezana Hospital, who could not be named, said after that final warning from their ‘replacement driver’, the rest was a blur.
‘I don’t know what happened afterwards. The next time I opened my eyes, I was in hospital.’
The bus and passengers were travelling back home to Mzumbe near Hibberdene on the South Coast after attending the annual Reed Dance in Nongoma.
The girls’ ordeal first started at Enyokeni Palace in Nongoma when their original driver was arrested and taken to Nongoma SAP on suspicion of being drunk. A replacement driver, Menzi Bhengu (23), was then called upon at the last moment to transport the maidens.
‘We heard that he was a mechanic and didn’t want to drive the bus, but he was forced to do so because our driver had been arrested. He told us he was unable to drive the bus,’ said the girl.
As the bus approached Nkwalini, the survivor recalled how the girls complained of a ‘burning’ smell.
‘We told the driver about the smell, but he just told us to calm down. A short while later he uttered those fateful words.
Private bus company – Malundi Excursions from Port Shepstone – confirmed last week that Bhengu was indeed a mechanic, but did possess a code 14 driver’s licence.
Meanwhile distraught family members laid their loved ones to rest on Saturday, while nine patients were airlifted from Ngwelezana and eShowe hospitals to hospitals in Port Shepstone and Durban on Friday.
‘We still have six patients admitted at the hospital,’ said Ngwelezana Hospital spokesperson, Tobias Gumede. ‘They are in a stable condition and are still receiving treatment.’
The remaining funeral services will be held over the weekend at Mzumbe.
FRIDAY 6 SEPTEMBER
Funerals for the passengers who died in the accident will be held at Umzumbe on the KZN South Coast on Saturday, 7 September.
THURSDAY 5 SEPTEMBER
TRANSPORT MEC Willies Mchunu has confirmed that the cause of Sunday’s horror bus accident in which ten people died was speeding.
Department of Transport officials piecing together the evidence this week to determine the cause of the accident, could not find any malfunction on the bus.
Initial reports at the scene had it that 10 people were killed when the bus, transporting people from the annual royal reed dance, overturned on the last bend at the bottom of the Melmoth Pass.
On Monday it was determined that nine people were dead, but on Tuesday another critically injured girl passed away in the Albert Luthuli Hospital in Durban.
The driver of the bus who was reported as having died, is recovering in hospital.
Mchunu said that the driver at the time of the accident was an alternative driver, as the original driver was arrested by the traffic authorities at the festival venue, Inyokeni Palace, after he was found to be under the influence of alcohol.
The bus was transporting 63 maidens and minders who had attended the reed dance outside Nongoma over the weekend when it crashed near the Empangeni, eShowe and Melmoth intersection at Nkwaleni.
The bus was returning to uMzumbe outside Port Shepstone.
The bus on its side before being recovered on Sunday evening
MONDAY 2 SEPTEMBER
POLITICAL parties have expressed shock and disbelief at the tragic bus accident on the R66 in the Indundulu area near eShowe on Sunday night which claimed the lives of 10 passengers.
Extending condolences to the families of victims, the African National Congress (ANC) in KZN called on traffic authorities and police to thoroughly investigate the cause of the accident to determine whether the bus was overloaded or unroadworthy.
‘The ANC is very concerned about the high rate of accidents involving public transport in KZN,’ said spokesperson Sihle Zikalala.
‘We urge owners of public transport companies to comply with safety regulations to prevent accidents on our roads.
‘We have no doubt that this horrific accident will not dampen the spirits that our young maidens have about the Reed Dance Festival, which continues to grow in leaps and bounds,’ added Zikalala.
In her reaction, the Zululand District Municipality (ZDM) mayor and National Freedom Party (NFP) president, Zanele KaMagwaza-Msibi, expressed shock and sadness about the accident.
‘Our condolences go to the families of the deceased and His Majesty the King and the royal family as the organisers of the ceremony. I also wish a speedy recovery to those who were injured and recuperating in different hospitals,’ she said.
The Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) said the accident had left the King and the nation devastated.
‘The King was inconsolable,’ said Prince Mangosuthu Buthelezi.
‘We spent hours trying to come to terms with this unspeakable loss for our nation and for these families. The King asked me to convey his deepest condolences to the families of the injured and the deceased.’
As IFP President, he said the party was further distressed to learn that three of the victims of this accident were women leaders of the IFP – two of whom had been tasked with accompanying the young maidens from Umzumbe.
Investigation
The Democratic Alliance (DA) also welcomed the announcement that the KZN transport department was committed to a full investigation.
‘This tragedy must be fully probed and the outcome made available to the family members of the deceased in a bid to help them find closure in the difficult weeks that lie ahead,’ added DA spokesperson Sizwe Mchunu.
SUNDAY 1 SEPTEMBER
A RICHARDS BAY family came face to face with horror when Sunday evening’s bus accident which claimed 10 lives on the Melmoth pass unfolded in front of them.
The bus driver, an adult woman and eight maidens who attended the annual Royal Reed Dance festival in Nongoma at the weekend, died in the accident near the intersection of the R66 and R34. They were on their way back to Port Shepstone.
Hilton Arendsen and his family witnessed the tragedy.
‘We saw the bus sliding and then heard a loud bang. The bus rolled and I saw the children being flung out of the windows.
There were broken bodies trapped under the bus,’ Arendsen said.
The Arendsens stopped their car and Hilton ran to help the injured passengers.
‘Several people stopped to help and we attempted to move the bus off the bodies, but we couldn’t. Passengers had fallen out of the bus down the embankment and were trying to climb to safety.’
People stood by helplessly as they were unable to free the passengers trapped in the wreck.
‘It was terrible, I could do nothing and police on the scene told us not to touch the injured people,’ said Arendsen.
He said police were on the scene in minutes and ambulances arrived about 30 minutes later.
It was estimated that of the injured, 18 were in a critical condition.
The injured were transported to the eShowe District and Ngwelezane hospitals.
Nursing manager at Ngwelezane Hospital, Sister Lindiwe Ngcobo, said the hospital had treated 11 injured passengers who were brought in by paramedics and the rescue helicopter.
‘One was transferred to Inkosi Albert Luthuli Hospital and two have been discharged. The patients and their families are very traumatised and are receiving counselling,’ she said.
On Sunday night the KZN Minister of Health, Dr Sibongiseni Dhlomo, and Minister of Arts and Culture, Ntombikhayise Sibhidla-Saphetha, visited patients and their families at the hospital.
The Department of Transport will investigate the cause of the accident.
