‘The devil planned this’ school principal says of deadly school minibus crash

23 April 2017 - 16:17 By Kyle Cowan
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Christina Tjiana and Lucia Xolo, principals of Mahlenga Secondary and Refano Primary schools. They lost 18 learners from their schools in Friday's horror taxi crash.
Christina Tjiana and Lucia Xolo, principals of Mahlenga Secondary and Refano Primary schools. They lost 18 learners from their schools in Friday's horror taxi crash.
Image: Kyle Cowan

The principal of a primary school near Bronkhorstspruit says she has no idea how she is going to tell the learners of her school about their 14 classmates who died in a horrific minibus crash on Friday afternoon.

Lucia Xolo‚ the principal of Refano Primary School‚ told TimesLIVE she was dreading school on Monday.

“Right now I don’t have a clear idea of how to go about this. I think the best will be to visit every class and speak to the little ones‚” she said.

“I am feeling frustrated and confused. I cannot accept it.”

Xolo said the learners who died‚ who were from Grade 1 to Grade 7 pupils‚ were some of her very best students‚ and the “devil had planned it very well”.

“Seeing those little bodies like that‚ I can’t even explain.”

  • Case of culpable homicide opened after horrific minibus taxi crashThe morning after the lives of 18 school children were brutally cut short in a horrific crash near Bronkhorstspruit‚ life for some is continuing as normal. 

Christina Tjiana‚ principal of Mahlenga Secondary school in Sokhulumi village‚ said the school lost four children‚ two in Grade 8‚ one in Grade 10 and another in Grade 11.

“I am unsure about how I am going to face the other learners tomorrow. It’s like a dream. Maybe they will tell us it’s not true‚” she said.

Tjiana told TimesLIVE she had taught the Grade 11 learner last year‚ and that he was intelligent‚ quiet and respectful.

The crash claimed a total of 18 school children and two adults‚ one the driver of the taxi‚ Amos Mnguni (73)‚ and the other the father to two of the children‚ one in high school and the other in primary school‚ both principals confirmed.

They also said that another family had lost three children‚ all in primary school in Grade 1‚ Grade 3 and Grade 7.

  • Probe into horror KZN bus crash to look at possibility of overloading and inexperience of driverThe possibility of overloading and an inexperienced driver will form part of the investigation into a horror bus crash that claimed the lives of 14 people at Ntunjambili in KwaZulu-Natal on Saturday‚ KZN MEC for transport Mxolisi Kaunda says. 

The MECs for education in Gauteng and Mpumalanga‚ Panyaza Lesufi and Reginah Mhaule respectively‚ are expected to lead a meeting between officials from government departments who are assisting with all the arrangements as well as counselling. They are expected to meet the families of the victims at a community hall in Verena later on Sunday afternoon.

Basic education minister Angie Motshekga was also expected to visit on Sunday‚ but her spokesman‚ Elijah Mhlanga‚ said she had decided to postpone the visit.

“The minister is waiting for a report back from both MECs‚ as things are still a little chaotic. After she was briefed‚ she felt it appropriate to wait and allow all the arrangements to be finalised‚” he said.

TMG Digital/TimesLIVE

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