Pretoria - The most heartbreaking thing for Mandla Sithole after learning that his nephew had been involved in an accident, was driving to different hospitals across Pretoria trying to locate him.
His nephew, Tebogo Sithole, 18, was one of the two schoolboys and a taxi driver who died on Tuesday on the Old Warmbaths Road. A third boy died in hospital on Wednesday.
Sithole said after being informed that the Grade 11 Langenhoven High School pupil was involved in an accident, the family struggled to locate him.
“The paramedics and hospitals could not tell us where he was. The worst part is that we called George Mukhari and they said he had not been admitted there.” But Tebogo had died at the George Mukhari Hospital in Ga-Rankuwa.
Another boy, Tshepiso Nkuna, 14, and taxi driver Ofentse Tshula, died on the scene of the accident. At least 16 other pupils from various schools in the city are still in hospital. The taxi they were travelling in was apparently forced off the road by another motorist and it hit two pillars before overturning.
On Wednesday, Gauteng Education MEC Panyaza Lesufi visited four pupils from two public and two independent schools in the city at the Steve Biko Academic Hospital. He also visited Tebogo and Tshepiso’s families.
While at hospital, Lesufi said one of the four pupils was in a critical condition. He urged the parents of the injured schoolchildren not to worry as they were in safe hands.
“Three of the four might be out in the next two to three weeks. The one in a critical condition has a cracked skull and will take a while to recover. Doctors are waiting for the swelling to subside,” he said.
He also said he was worried about the long distance the pupils had to travel to get to schools.
Lesufi said: “What pains me is not the state of the kids but the long distance children travel for education from Hammanskraal to Pretoria. It means that if you cannot sort out the quality of education in the townships, these sort of incidents will continue. And that is what pains me.”
Hammanskraal and Pretoria are 43.2km apart. He said the department was taking responsibility for the accident because they could not offer quality education for the pupils in their areas. He said the department was trying to make township schools more attractive to parents by introducing programmes like the paperless classrooms. The department is rolling out the introduction of tablets.
Lesufi said his office had been in talks with the Transport Department regarding the roadworthiness of taxis that transport school children. He said the department was organising a joint memorial service for the pupils at school tomorrow.
Tshepiso will be buried on Saturday and Tebogo on Sunday.
Pretoria News