Father's heartache as Michaelhouse remembers bus crash victim ‘Big T’

Thabo Dloti trembled as he delivered a tearful eulogy to his son‚ Themba‚ on Friday afternoon.

"I know that with his untimely departure‚ if Themba could have planned it‚ he would have planned to depart this life surrounded by his friends and those he loved‚" he said.

The Michaelhouse Grade 10 pupil died on Tuesday when the bus carrying the 46 football players and four staff members crashed. The accident‚ which occurred on Town Hill just outside Pietermaritzburg‚ was apparently caused by a tyre blow-out that flipped the vehicle on its side.

On Friday‚ hundreds of people filled the Michaelhouse chapel. Mourners spilled out of the doors of the small‚ red brick building.

"We will miss him‚ but everything he did will live with us forever‚" Dloti said. "I used to call him Big T ... and it is very hard for me to speak about him. We were blessed with 16 years with him and his star will continue to shine in our hearts."

Dloti described his teenage son as "a dear boy‚ and a great brother".