Durban - The funerals of the three schoolgirls who died after being knocked down by a taxi last week are set to be held separately this weekend.
Tina Ngiba, 13, Ayanda Mtshali, 14, and Luyanda Ngubane,13, died when a taxi ploughed into them while they were standing on a pavement at the intersection of Dumisani Makhaye Drive and Inanda Road last Wednesday morning.
The girls were on their way to Newlands East Primary School.
According to their families, Tina and Luyanda will be buried on Saturday, while Ayanda will be laid to rest on Sunday.
KwaZulu-Natal Education Department spokesperson Sihle Mlotshwa said the department would offer assistance to the families.
“I cannot say for sure if the assistance will be financial, but the MEC (Mthandeni Dlungwane) is engaging with the heads of department in terms of how we can help the families,” he said.
The Ngubane and Mtshali families said they had received assistance from the Road Accident Fund (RAF), which promised to pay for the coffins, transportation, storage of the bodies and digging of the graves.
The families also received visits from representatives of the Lindelani Taxi Association, who offered to contribute R3000 towards funeral expenses, but the Ngubane family rejected it.
“The money was offered with a lot of conditions attached to it, and not in very good spirit, so we ended up respectfully declining it,” said Nonto Ngubane, the older sister of Luyanda.
“They said accidents like these happen and we are not the first or last family to lose a loved one to a road accident. They said this is all they can offer us and we should wait for investigations to be completed,” she said.
Taxi association spokesperson Alfred Shinga said the organisation visited all three bereaved families and also the injured schoolchild who was in hospital.
“We offered R3000 to each family, as we usually do in situations like these,” he said.
Shinga would not be drawn on the dispute with the Ngubane family, but said: ”If there are instances where there might have been disagreements, we are working to mend those relationships. You must understand this was an unusual accident.”
Shinga said the association would visit the families again tomorrow and offer a further R2 000 to each.
An RAF official said while she could not comment specifically on this case, generally speaking RAF did offer funeral assistance in cases of mass accidents.
“We also offer funeral assistance in cases where it was not the victim’s fault. We offer guidance on how they can go about claiming,” she said.
The driver of the taxi, Siboniso Zwane, 33, is currently in custody.
He is charged with three counts of culpable homicide and is expected to appear in the Ntuzuma Magistrate’s Court for his bail application on Wednesday.