Boksburg nurse died after trying to save her car from blaze

Had Susan Maxakaza not tried to save her car from the flames caused by the Boksburg explosion, her life would have been spared.

This is what haunts Keamogetswe Maxakaza, 27, as he looks at the damaged black Kia Sportage parked in his mother’s driveway.

Maxakaza, a mother of two, had been working as a nurse at Tambo Memorial Hospital for more than 20 years.

She was among those who were transferred to Charlotte Maxeke Johannesburg Academic Hospital on Christmas Eve when the hospital was swamped with scores of injured patients.

The nurse succumbed to her injuries on Monday.

While pointing at the melted paintwork on the car and the shattered windows, Keamogetswe said he wished his mother had been less concerned about her car at that moment.

“She heard the explosion and that’s when she went outside to move her car. Then another explosion happened. She could have just left this thing, then she would have still been here,” he said.

Keamogetswe will be celebrating his first birthday on Thursday without his mother. He says he is grateful he will be with his family on his special day.

“Words cannot describe how I feel. I feel numb. It is my family that is keeping me strong because this is really hard. We knew that one day she would be gone but not like this. We are still so traumatised. Honestly, I don’t have much to say.”

Maxakaza was described as a bubbly, loud person who was reliable and loved to sing church songs.

Her daughter Gontse, 22, said she was with her mother before she left for work on the morning of the tragic incident. She never thought her mother would not return home. .

“I thought it is a normal day and that she was coming back until someone came to tell us she was involved in the explosion. They said she just got burnt – until I saw her at the Johannesburg General Hospital. I just saw a burnt person. Her skin was off, but I was told that was my mother,” she said.

Back at home, her clean nurse’s uniform was placed on the sofa, waiting to be ironed for the next day.

All the family wants is justice. They were shocked and angered to hear that the driver of the truck involved has been released as police carry out further investigations.

Maxakaza’s niece, Keneilwe Kgagodi, said she hoped the driver would be dealt with in accordance with the law.

“He should not get away scot–free. Even now, hearing that he was released, I don’t understand how that happened. Personally, I just want justice to be done ... My aunt was so reliable and would drop everything to come and help us,” she said in tears.  

Three minutes from Maxakaza’s home is the Seboka family, who were busy with funeral arrangements for their sister-in–law, Koena Margaret Seboka.

Seboka, 59, also worked at Tambo Memorial Hospital as a nurse for more than two decades. The family said they heard about the explosion on the news but had no idea Seboka was one of the victims.

Her brother-in-law, Percy Seboka, said he was in Limpopo when they got the news that she was injured. She died on Christmas Day.

The family refused to discuss the details surrounding her death.

“We choose not to talk about it. We don’t want to focus on how she passed on. We just want her to rest in peace. It’s too painful to discuss and just too soon,” he said.

What comforts the family is that she was a hard-working person who left a positive legacy for her children, he said.

“She loved her family and loved education. We see it in her children. She has three children who are all graduates and also believe in prayer. The children are not doing well but since they were raised to be spiritually strengthened, they are coping.”

Seboka will be buried in Limpopo. The family has yet to meet to set a funeral date.

The Gauteng provincial government, including premier Panyaza Lesufi, visited families of the deceased nurses.

These healthcare workers are among dozens of people who were killed on Christmas Eve when a truck carrying a liquefied petroleum gas tanker got stuck under a railway bridge in Boksburg.

The death toll was 26 on Wednesday. 

The stuck gas tanker sparked a fire which eventually led to an explosion. This severely affected Ekurhuleni firefighters, residents and hospital staff.

Three houses, a firetruck and two vehicles were destroyed, while the ceiling of the Tambo Memorial Hospital’s emergency unit also collapsed.

Meanwhile, the driver of the truck was rescued and hospitalised. He appeared briefly before the Boksburg magistrate's court on Monday. He is facing charges of culpable homicide, reckless driving and malicious damage to property.

The 32-year-old man was released on Wednesday as all charges against him were provisionally withdrawn while police investigations continue.

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