LOUIS TRICHARDT – Survivors of the horrific bus crash in Limpopo that claimed the lives of 42 people have recounted the terrifying moments leading up to the tragedy, painting a picture of reckless driving and an overloaded vehicle. The bus, carrying approximately 90 passengers, many of whom were migrant workers travelling home to Zimbabwe and Malawi for the first time in years, overturned on the N1 between Louis Trichardt and Musina.
Chaoma Mukondiona, a 25-year-old Zimbabwean farmworker who survived the crash, said the driver had been speeding and narrowly avoided a head-on collision shortly before the accident.
"I saw it with my own eyes. The bus was travelling at high speed and he was getting into a head-on collision but managed to control the bus," Mukondiona recounted. He said terrified passengers had scolded the driver, shouting, "You must drive carefully, we don't want trouble."
Mukondiona, who had boarded the bus in East London, said he was forced to sleep on the floor of the overcrowded vehicle. "The last thing I remember before falling asleep was that the bus was travelling at high speed. Then I woke up in hospital. I was terrified."
Another survivor, Willard Suweni from Malawi, corroborated Mukondiona's account of speeding and reckless driving. Suweni, who was travelling home to see his wife and three children after four years apart, said he overheard the two drivers complaining about the brakes early in the journey.
"The first sign of trouble was when he overheard the two drivers complaining about the brakes, saying they were not OK and they would have to remove the trailer as it was too full," Suweni said. He added that the trailer was never removed, and after a smoother ride initially, the driver began "over-speeding" after Bloemfontein, despite passengers' complaints.
"He said the passengers started complaining. However, he said, the driver continued speeding all the way to Limpopo, where at one point took a bend so dangerously that everyone was shocked into silence. “No one could talk at that point,” he recalled."
Suweni said he was looking forward to seeing his wife and three children whom he last saw four years ago. He said he sent home money he earned as a farmworker to pay for school fees for his children.
He was going to disembark in Harare and get a connecting bus to Blantyre.
"Many other people in the bus had not seen their families in years," he said.
Suweni said the crash happened after the driver lost control of the bus.
"It got off the road and he battled to steer it back because the overloaded trailer was making it difficult for the bus to stay on the road. “Before the bus overturned, a lot of screaming and children crying filled the bus.”
Suweni said everything went dark and he woke up in an ambulance. But not all of his fellow passengers were so lucky.
"There was a guy from Zimbabwe behind me with his wife and small daughter. There was also another guy with his wife and child too. They are all dead.
"Lot of children lost their parents in the crash. I don’t know how I got out, it could only be God," he said.
As he had not gone home in four years, he had bought his wife and children cellphones as well as shoes and clothes. He lost all the items in the crash.
He has decided to stay home in Blantyre with his family and not return to SA.
The bus veered off the road along a steep mountain pass and plunged down an embankment. Forty-nine people were hospitalised. Limpopo premier Dr Phophi Ramathuba later cited fatigue as another key factor in the accident, according to spokesperson Thilivhali Muavha.
Mukondiona, who works at a poultry factory in Mthatha, said he lost his academic certificates, R2,500 in cash, and clothes he had bought for his parents. Despite his losses, he is grateful to be alive. Suweni, meanwhile, had purchased cellphones, shoes, and clothes for his wife and children, all of which were lost in the crash. He has decided to remain in Blantyre with his family and not return to South Africa.
Attempts to reach DnC Coaches for comment went unanswered. The tragedy has highlighted the dangers faced by migrant workers travelling long distances by road, often in overcrowded and poorly maintained vehicles. The investigation into the crash is ongoing.
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