By BAKANG MOKOTO
North West MEC for Community Safety and Transport Management, Wessels Morweng said he is saddened by the death of a learner as a result of an alleged recklessness of a scholar transport bus driver. It is alleged that learners at Motsaalore Secondary School in Khunotswane village, near Mahikeng, were leaving for home as usual in the afternoon on Wednesday, 17 July 2024 and boarded their scholar transport bus.
It is reported that a short distance from the school, a learner began to jump from a bus while in motion as the driver allegedly was driving recklessly and lost control of the bus. According to school management who briefed the North West MEC for Community Safety and Transport Management, Wessels Morweng on the morning of Thursday, 18 July 2024, when he visited the school, the driver was allegedly not sober and returned to the school yard after children had all jumped off the bus.
“The learners who reside about 13km from the school completed their journey on foot. On arrival at the school, the driver seemed not to be aware of the incident that took place.
“We were only made aware by some enraged community members, who came running after the bus and told us of the unfortunate incident. However, the driver who appeared delirious at that time, denied the incident and claimed he had ensured the bus doors were closed,” said a teacher.
The ambulance was called and it was then that one of the three learners who had jumped off the bus was found to have passed on. Two other learners were transferred to the nearest hospital.
Meanwhile, Morweng expressed shock and sadness for the young life lost. He said an investigation will be conducted and necessary action as per the service level agreement would be taken against the contracted operator.
“One lost life of a child is a loss to the society and sends deepest condolences to the bereaved family and the school. This is a very sad and heart-breaking situation. I must say that I’m very disappointed with this kind of behaviour, where a person old enough to discern wrong from right ends up being the one who puts the lives of learners at risk.
“We are trying by all means at the department to ensure that our service providers must provide safe and reliable transport to our learners, but unfortunately these are some of the incidents we have to deal with. We are however working on a permanent solution to ensure this doesn’t recur,” he said.
The driver was immediately arrested and will appear in court on Friday. The scholar transport bus ferries learners from Matlhase village to Motsaalore Secondary school in Khunotswane village.
The Guardian 