Some 70 international bus passengers, including six mothers with small babies, were left for a full day without food or water last Friday along the N1 between Louis Trichardt and Musina in the blazing heat of one of the hottest days this summer, when their bus broke down. It was underway from Johannesburg to Zimbabwe.

Passersby from Louis Trichardt later that day carted emergency water supplies from HK Patel’s shop along the N1 to the passengers.

A Helping Hand SA in Louis Trichardt was activated to supply meals for the stranded passengers. Members of an informal interdenominational church forum in Louis Trichardt delivered the evening meal and special supplies for the babies and their mothers. They shuttled between Patel’s shop along the N1 and the stranded bus to deliver cans of water for the passengers who were threatened with dehydration.

Urgent efforts to contact the owner of Earthline Transport Services from Zimbabwe landed in a voice mail box and elicited no reply.

The final crisis started early Friday morning when the axle of the bus trailer broke when the bus was 35 kilometres north of Louis Trichardt. A mechanic was expected to come from Johannesburg to fix it. Around 15:00 on Friday, the mechanic and/or a relief bus was expected to arrive within the hour.

At 17:00 there was still not a trace of any relief.

Long after dark on Friday night, alternative transport eventually arrived. The passengers crossed the Beit Bridge border post sometime past 05:00 Saturday morning.

Passengers complained that their problems already started just outside Johannesburg, when the bus just stalled and had to wait for a mechanic, who found that the battery cables were not well connected.

Vehicles of at least three international bus liners in recent times caught alight and burnt out with loss of life on the N1 north. Stranded busses have become a common sight along the highway.

According to reliable sources, some 160 passenger busses per day handle the current holiday run between Johannesburg and Zimbabwe. Finding up to 10 defunct busses alongside the road between Johannesburg and Musina per day is not an uncommon sight.

The spokesperson for the national Department of Transport in Pretoria, Mr. Lesiba Malumela, said on enquiry that the licensing of and control over international buslines is the responsibility of the Cross Border Road Transport Agency in Pretoria, with control stations in Polokwane and at Musina, which deals with liners operating from South Africa to Zimbabwe. The Zimbabwean authorities handle the registration from their side.

According to a reliable source, roadworthiness and official complaints about the performance of vehicles and treatment of passengers are seriously taken into consideration in both countries with the renewal of permits for these operators. Licensing periods vary between one year and 14 days for various categories of busses.