A Grade 10 learner at Maneledzi Secondary School, Lutendo Tshirangwana (25) of Tshiozwi, is still suffering from injuries he sustained when he was hit by a taxi on March 3, along the Gogobole road.

Since he was hit by the speeding taxi a fortnight ago, he has not yet set a foot in school. Lutendo is bed ridden and he is still complaining of excruciating pain throughout his body.

When Mirror visited him on Monday, he was still unable to walk properly. "I am not quite certain if my right hand will ever function properly. I am also worried about the taxi owner’s lack of remorse. He did not visit me at the hospital and now I am at home, he has not yet visited," he said.

Mirror learnt that the taxi owner was traveling at high speed when he lost control of his taxi at the Gogobole bus stop. He was from coming from Kutama. "I saw the taxi apparently crossing the oncoming lane, hitting the road sign. Everything happened in the blink of an eye. After hitting the road sign, the taxi came straight to me; at that time, I was unable to avoid it, and that’s all I still remember," he said.

Lutendo’s uncle, Maluta Mammburu, said that when the accident occurred, he was sitting under a nearby tree with his friends. He said that the taxi owner stopped after hitting Lutendo. According to Mammburu, the windscreen of the taxi broke into pieces the moment it struck Lutendo.

"The ambulance arrived an hour later and at that time, Lutendo was lying down and bleeding profusely. After the ambulance had taken Lutendo to the Louis Trichardt Memorial Hospital, I cleaned his blood that was just splashed and flowing on the shoulder of the tarred road. I never thought Lutendo would survive," he said.

* Learners and the school management of Kutama High are still shocked and saddened by the tragic death of a visiting student to their school.

The 16-year-old learner was hit fatally by a speeding taxi while crossing the busy Sinthumule/Kutama road at Muduluni settlement last Saturday at about 17: 30.

Mirror learnt that the learner was from Ramoba Secondary School in Lenyenye. The school took a social and friendship-building trip with three buses to Kutama High last Saturday.

Throughout the day, learners from both schools participated in various sporting codes until 17:00. As Kutama High is situated along the Sinthumule/Kutama road at Muduluni, the safety of students is always at risk from speeding vehicles when they cross the road to the nearby shops.

A teacher at Kutama High, Mr Daniel Muremi, said that when the sporting activities were over, learners crossed the road and went to the nearby shops. He added that while learners were crossing the busy road, a speeding taxi coming from the direction of Makhado hit one of the students.

"The student fell to the ground when the taxi hit him and he was bleeding profusely from a gaping wound he had sustained to the head. We called an ambulance. After realizing that it was not coming, people on the scene decided to take the student to a nearby clinic," he said.

As a result of severe injuries, the student was immediately transferred to Louis Trichardt Memorial Hospital, where he died later. "The information that the student had died at the hospital shocked and saddened us because, as teachers, we view all learners as our children.

"This tragic death will make our relationship with Ramoba School to last forever," he said. Muremi further said that educators of Kutama High will attend the funeral of the learner in Lenyenye.

Police spokesperson Supt Ailwei Mushavhanamadi said that the police have opened a culpable homicide case. The name of the student has not been released because the police still have to inform his next of kin.