Pongola crash truck driver drove in oncoming lane for 1.2km, report finds
Image: Orrin Singh
The driver of the articulated coal truck which collided head-on with a bakkie and killed 18 pupils, the driver and assistant teacher in Pongola last week had been driving in the oncoming lane for about 1.2km.
Transport minister Fikile Mbalula revealed details of the horror crash on Thursday during a media briefing at the scene in northern KwaZulu-Natal.
The report by the Road Traffic Management Corporation found that the driver, Sibusiso Siyaya, 28, overtook multiple vehicles — an action prohibited by no overtaking lines.
“The driver recklessly overtook vehicles and drove on the oncoming lane for approximately 1.2km. Vehicles had to swerve out of the way. The driver made no attempt to return to his lane.
“Driver error is the major factor to the cause of the route crash.”
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Mbalula said while the truck driver's actions were extremely reckless, the driver transporting the 18 primary school pupils had been doing so illegally.
“The driver of the van was transporting scholars at the back of the van. This is illegal and extremely dangerous for the passengers at the back of a goods vehicle and highlights the importance of scholar transport in our country. Regulation 250 of the National Road Traffic Act of 1996 prohibits transportation of school children or any other person in a goods compartment of a vehicle for a reward.”
He said the contents of the report would be handed to the director of public prosecutions and the senior public prosecutor for their consideration.
He said immediate interventions on the route, which has been labelled as a “death trap” by residents, included:
- immediate deployment of KwaZulu-Natal Road Traffic Inspectorate officials, as well as local municipal traffic police, on the identified hazardous locations;
- deployment of national police on ad hoc basis to assist the province; and
- block patrol in the form of compulsory stopping of trucks at certain intervals to ensure speed reduction and considerate driving towards other road users.
Sanral had already begun planning a R2.2bn project to upgrade and widen the stretch of road on the N2, he said.
KZN's MEC for transport has been instructed to appoint someone to investigate transport companies and drivers, Mbalula said, adding that vehicle roadworthiness must be assessed and drivers retested where necessary.
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