The PMB school crash tragedy points to a bigger problem
A bakkie carrying more than 20 school children, all under the age of 13, veered off the road and crashed into a fence and a house in Imbali yesterday. Tragically, seven of the kids died in the accident - while many more were badly hurt.
Many parents in the townships rely on the transport services of 'uMalume' to take their children to and from school. uMalume usually drives a Caravelle or a bakkie and drives around picking up children and dropping them off at their various schools, and then comes after school and picks up the kids and drops them off at home. The parents pay uMalume a monthly fee for his services.
It's all good and well and the children are safely getting to school and back until one rotten apple comes and spoils it. A lot of stories of uMalume overloading their vehicles with children are surfacing. Some overload - saying they're going to drop the kids off in the next 500m and forgetting that anything can happen in this distance. There is also the issue of unroadworthy vehicles. Just because a car has a license disk and can move from point A to point B doesn't mean that it is safe to be on the roads.
The Transport Department still has to investigate yesterday's horrific accident. Transport's Kwanele Ncalane says among the questions they will be asking is why bakkies are being used to transport kids in the area: is it because of cost-effectiveness, or is it because there is no other mode of transport available?
Dear parents, please be more vigilant with your children. Sometimes it is difficult to juggle work and being parents and so liftclubs are useful because the majority of us can't get off work early, BUT make sure the vehicle that is transporting your child is roadworthy and that the driver is responsible and isn't just trying to load as many children as possible for bigger pay at the end of the month. If you find that the transport isn't up to your standards, then tell the person in charge and make an alternative arrangement for your child.
I must commend Kearsney College and Durban High School for having school busses to pick up their pupils and take them to school. It's great to see a school giving parents a transport alternative. I also personally don't think it's government's responsibility to provide transport. It's our responsibility as parents to ensure that our children are safe. We often tend to want government to do everything for us and forget that as parents we have a responsibility to our children.
Do you rely on a lift club to get your child to school? If yes, how did you choose it? If not, why?
(Photo: The accident scene, supplied by EMRS)