On Wednesday, July 10, 2024, a tragic accident in Gauteng province, South Africa, resulted in the loss of 12 schoolchildren and their driver. The minibus they were traveling in overturned and ignited after being hit from behind by a bakkie, a type of small commercial truck.
The mishap occurred in Merafong, a town west of Johannesburg, the very next day after schools reopened post-winter vacation. “The pupils’ transport was hit from behind by a bakkie, causing it to overturn and subsequently catch fire,” informed Steve Mabona, a spokesman for the Gauteng education department.
News coverage showed the burned out shell of the minibus, with schoolbooks strewn about the site. Sello Maremane, a spokesman for the Gauteng traffic police department, disclosed that the children were “burnt beyond recognition,” and identification would be undertaken by forensic experts. The driver of the bakkie was also admitted to the hospital.
It has been confirmed by authorities that eleven of the deceased children were students at Rocklands Primary School, while the twelfth child attended Laerskool Blyvooruitsig in Carletonville. The ages of the children have not been disclosed, but the schools they attended commonly enroll children aged six to 13.
Seven additional children were injured and transported to a hospital in Carletonville. By late afternoon, local reports indicated that most of the injured children had been discharged.
Government officials, including Gauteng provincial government head Panyaza Lesufi, visited the crash site and the hospital to lend support to the affected families. “This event profoundly saddens me,” conveyed Gauteng Education Minister Matome Chiloane. “The loss of our children is a devastating blow to our community.”
President Cyril Ramaphosa expressed his condolences and underscored the need to prioritize children’s safety. “This tragedy, which is not the first of its kind, demands that we exercise our obligation to protect our children with the utmost care,” he stated.
This incident has prompted calls for more stringent regulations and improved enforcement of existing road safety laws. “I have always said to parents we need to check the condition of the vehicles that we put our kids in,” Chiloane mentioned at the scene.
Despite having one of the continent’s most developed road networks, South Africa also has some of the worst road safety statistics. In March, a bus carrying 45 people to a religious event fell off a bridge into a ravine in the north of the country, resulting in their deaths. The bus was traveling from neighboring Botswana to Moria, a location known for hosting an annual Easter pilgrimage and service that draws over a million worshippers.
In another instance in February, a bus crash killed at least nine supporters of the African National Congress party while they were returning from an electoral rally in the east of the country.
In May, 13 people lost their lives in a head-on collision between a minibus taxi and a truck on a major highway in the northern province of Limpopo.
According to data released by South Africa’s Automobile Association (AA) last year, 12,436 individuals died on South African roads between January and December 2022. This number is slightly lower than the 12,541 deaths recorded during the same period in 2021. The AA has dubbed the nation’s annual road fatality numbers “a national crisis.”
