LunganiZungu
The parents of the schoolchildren who died in the Pongola truck crash said their final farewells during a mass funeral of 14 of the 20 victims on Saturday.
“But this is only the beginning of a long, uphill journey to find healing,” parent Sandisiwe Nkondle told Scrolla.Africa after the funeral.
“I can’t believe my son Lwandle is no more. It is not going to be easy.”
Lwandle was among the 20 people who died when a truck collided with a bakkie transporting school children last Friday in Godlwayo in Pongola.
Two adults and 18 schoolchildren, aged between five and 13 died in the accident.
Bongekile Dlamini said the death of her nine-year-old daughter Siyamthanda has torn her apart.
“It will take time for me to accept that my daughter is no more. I am leaving everything in the hands of God,” she said.
Speaker after speaker at the Waterbus Sports Ground in Pongola where the funeral took place spoke about tighter rules to be put in place to curb fatal road accidents involving trucks.
Transport Minister Fikile Mbalula who attended the funeral with police Minister Bheki Cele said the government will be channeling billions towards building safer roads.
“The death of the children has left me lost for words,” he said.
Zululand District Mayor Thulasizwe Buthelezi called for trucks to only be allowed on the roads at night.
“We call upon the Minister of Transport to urgently come up with a national strategy to deal with these trucks, including limiting their times of travel to 6pm and 6am only.
The driver of the truck, Siyabonga Siyaya, will reappear at the Pongola Magistrate Court on Monday on multiple charges of culpable homicide.
On Thursday Mbalula delivered a report of the accident, which found that Siyaya was reckless and extremely dangerous.
The investigation was conducted by the Road Traffic Management Corporation (RMTC).
