The Mulaudzi Bus Company, which was reluctant to bury a 15-year-old boy who had been knocked down by one of its buses at Mamvuka Village last week, eventually made available money for the boy´s funeral.

Forget Mudau was walking on the side of the road on August 20, when one of the Mulaudzi buses allegedly knocked him down. He died at the scene.

Mulaudzi Bus Company allegedly promised the family to bury the deceased but had at first failed to honor their promise. The family then contacted Mirror for assistance in this regard. The company had not yet contacted the bereaved family on Thursday last week. It suddenly just kept quiet and continued ignoring phone calls from the family.

After several phone calls by Mirror, the company then sent one of its workers with a cheque of R5 000 to the bereaved family last Thursday. After realizing the matter was now in the hands of the media, the company sent another cheque of R5 000, which made the total amount R10 000.

Forget was subsequently laid to rest at a local cemetery in the village last Saturday.

According to the family, the company was ignoring their calls at first, before Mirror got involved. "I am just happy that my grandson was buried at last," said Forget´s granny, Ms Elisa Mudau.

Mudau stayed with her grandson, Forget, and her three other grandchildren as their mother had passed away some time ago. "The bus company did not want to contribute anything to burying my grandson," said Mudau.

The spokesperson for the Mphephu police, W/O Lazarus Netshidzati, confirmed that they had opened a case of culpable homicide, following the incident. Forget was a Grade 6 pupil at Manyii Primary School in the village.

Cllr Humbulani Magada of Makhado Municipality´s Ward 36 expressed his appreciation for the fact that the bus company "eventually came to their senses and contributed money to bury Forget. We really appreciate what the company has done in taking the responsibility to bury the deceased," said Magada.