MAKHADO – Two pupils of Paradise Maname Combined School were killed in a freak accident outside Makhado last Friday (August 11).

They were part of a tour group of 39 learners, four parents and six teachers from the school, on their way back home from an educational trip to Durban. At about midnight on their way home, the right rear wheel of the bus caught fire along the N1 road next to the Elim T-junction outside Makhado. The driver stopped the bus and after all learners and their luggage were moved from the bus, the driver extinguished the fire.

According to the school director, Dr Ntavhanyeni Phaswana, he requested teachers and learners not to get into the bus before the Makhado Fire Brigade had arrived. He said that the Fire Brigade arrived and parked a few metres behind the bus, but their vehicle faced the same direction as the bus.

“Although the fire was already extinguished by the bus driver, fire-fighters wanted to sprinkle more water on the tyre.” He said that learners were standing at about eight metres from the bus, far away from the road and as they were not expecting any vehicle to come in their direction. Suddenly, the Fire Brigade truck, with the driver inside, started to move towards the children, hitting six students and killing two instantly. The deceased are Khodani Mphephu (9) and Musunda Nethavhani (10).

The injured were taken to the Louis Trichardt Memorial Hospital. One was later discharged from the hospital, while the remaining three were transferred to the provincial hospital in Polokwane.

A memorial service was held at the school yesterday, Thursday, at 10:00. Dr Phaswana has already contributed R1 000 to each of the bereaved families and R500 each to those still in hospital. He said that the Makhado Municipality had contributed R1 000 and had promised to provide the bereaved families with groceries. “My message to the bereaved families is that as the school, we are sharing the deep pain with you during this difficult time. As the school motto indicates, we are going to transcend and go beyond the pain. I also want to wish a speedy recovery to the injured learners,” he said.

Mr Alex Nemakonde, spokesperson of the Vhembe District Municipality, said that his municipality is grieving with the bereaved families. “To us this is a disaster on its own and that is why we are deeply involved with funeral arrangements with the bereaved families.” Asked if the district municipality will compensate the grieving families, Nemakonde said all funeral services expenditure is under the Vhembe District Municipality in partnership with the Makhado Municipality. “I am unable to comment on whether the two families who lost their children will be compensated or not. In fact, the issue of compensation lies within the jurisdiction of the executive mayor,” he said.

When asked if an internal investigation to determine what actually led the truck to run over the innocent learners has already started, Nemakonde said: “Since this is a police matter, we are also going to conduct our own investigation as soon as possible.”

The deceased will be buried tomorrow (Saturday). The funeral service will start at the Makhado Multi-Purpose Centre at 7:00 and then proceed to Biaba and Tshikuwi graveyards, where the two learners will be laid to rest.

A case of culpable homicide has been opened at the Makhado SAPS.