Six months since the deadly Christmas Eve Boksburg gas tanker explosion left a community traumatised and in mourning, one family has opened up on their struggle to cope emotionally and financially after they lost three members in the accident.
This as the law firm representing several victims says a “lot progress has been made” in the potential class-action suit.
A liquefied petroleum gas tanker operated by Infinite Fleet Transport exploded after getting stuck under a railway bridge on Christmas Eve. The driver took a wrong turn while trying to get onto the N17 highway and miscalculated the slope of the road under the bridge. The trailer was damaged, which led to a gas leak. Rescue workers went to help, but a short while later the tanker exploded.
The explosion resulted in the deaths of 41 people, including 11 healthcare workers who were killed when the flames from the blast spread towards neighbouring areas, including the Tambo Memorial Hospital. Scores more were left injured or traumatised.
Among them are Rose and Lawrence Mashaba, who lost their two children and daughter-in-law on that fateful morning.
The two retirees said the “demon fire” that claimed their children, the breadwinners of the household, had changed their lives forever. In addition to their grief, they are struggling with limited resources.
Ndumiso and Neo Mashaba, 25 and 22, as well as Vutiri Mlati, 35, suffered extensive injuries from the explosion and died within days of each other at Far East and Pholosong hospitals.
My daughter-in-law asked after the children and my son promised to try and fight to stay alive for them.
— Rose Mashaba
Their son, a father of two, was a sports teacher. His wife was a nail technician. Their daughter, who had one child, was a research nurse who had just graduated.
The trio had gone to the scene just moments after the tanker got stuck under the bridge.
The rest of the family, who stay less than 500m from the site of the explosion, survived because they remained inside the house.
“They were severely burnt and that chemical (gas) was in them as they had inhaled it, so it affected them from inside. It was too much,” the parents recalled.
Rose, in particular, shared the trauma of what she saw at the scene when she arrived soon after the explosion.
Her family members were crying and in pain. Their clothes were burnt clean off their bodies and family members had to take pillow cases and blankets to cover them. Ndumiso had burn wounds, Neo lost an arm and Vutiri had a wound on her back.
“What I saw there was too much,” Rose recalled painfully.
Ndumiso and his wife were the first to succumb to their injuries — he died on the day of the blast and Neo a day later.
“Ndumiso spoke to me and asked, 'mama, what happened to us?' He also told his brother that he was burning inside. His wife asked after the children, and my son promised to try to fight to stay alive for them,” Rose recalled.
Vutiri initially showed signs of recovery as the extent of her injuries did not appear to be serious, but she died on December 28.
Lawrence said they spoke to their eldest daughter during that time, and while she assured her parents that she would make it, she told other family members another story.
“She was in pain but apparently hiding it as she didn't want us to see. She told her aunt, 'I won't make it, I can feel the pain inside, but I don't want my mom to see it because I know she won't be OK.'
“We didn't even tell her that her brother and his wife had died because we didn't want to hurt her too much,” he said.
Their house, along with others on the street, were damaged by the explosion and subsequent flames. Windows shattered and the ceiling caved in. The walls were left blackened.
The Mashaba family has managed to make some repairs to the house, thanks to the assistance of donors, but some damage, including to the ceiling, remains evident six months down the line.
They say they have felt a lack of support from the authorities in the aftermath of the accident, adding only Gift of the Givers and their local community, including Parkrand, have provided assistance over the past few months.
“We're going to meet the law firm to open a case. We know it will take years [to resolve] but we don't care,” Lawrence said.
Various local organisations including non-profit groups, schools, an estate agency and golf club have helped raise funds to assist the affected families. Gift of the Givers has also assisted with food parcels and medical supplies. Its Gauteng spokesperson Clifford Mabe said two months ago, 16 families also began receiving grocery vouchers which will be given to them for the next 14 months.
“These families include those of the healthcare workers who died because they too reached out to us for assistance in the aftermath,” Mabe said.
Mabe said that they had checked in with the families in the past few months and that a site visit would be done soon to check up on them.
He added that counselling was offered to traumatised families, but these stopped when members said they were fine.
RH Lawyers said it is representing between 65-80 victims of the explosion but expects the figure to increase.
The law firm said the lawsuit would target the city of Ekurhuleni, the Road Accident Fund and possibly Infinite Fleet Transport and the driver behind the wheel on the day.
“We wanted to institute action against the municipality of Ekurhuleni because they are in control of the fire department, so they are vicariously liable for the omissions of the fire department. [We believe] there were quite a number of omissions, so we've appointed experts that are dealing with the fire department's conduct. [They have] pretty much given an opinion that the conduct of the firefighting department was inadequate. Because of that, we have served a notice. Before you can institute action against a state department or state, you have to send a ... notice.” That was sent out late last month.
RHL has appointed another expert to probe the conduct of Infinite Fleet, particularly the driver, on the day.
“This expert specialises in the transportation of hazardous good, and he's going to get back to us with an expert report on that.
“We're also getting medical reports, just seeing the extent of our clients' injuries, but we have them listed and we're also preparing documentation for the lodging of our clients' claim against the Road Accident Fund because [we argue] that's another party that's liable here for our clients' damages,” they said.
Speaking on the compensation sought by the claimants, the Houghton Estate-based law firm said these would depend on individual circumstances.
“Each claimant will have a different claim, there are injury claimants that will have claims for past and future medical expenses. They'll have claims for general damages, the sustained suffering or inconvenience that they have experienced as a result of the explosion.”
The police said an investigation into the explosion had been concluded and that the docket was now with the National Prosecuting Authority for a decision. Gauteng police spokesperson Lt-Col Mavela Masondo said no arrests had been made so far.
Ekurhuleni redirected all queries regarding assistance pledged to the families to provincial government, saying that Ekurhuleni could only commit to “that which it can do”.
Gauteng province spokesperson Vuyo Mhaga threw the ball back in the municipality's court, saying that that function rested with them.
Asked whether assistance was offered to families to help them repair their homes or if they were given financial assistance, Mhaga said province's hands were tied because any expenditure can only be carried out under the provisions of the law it applies to.
He confirmed that the government assisted the only way it could, by providing trauma counselling and ambulance services at the time, but could do no more as it had “no mandate to assist”.
“Government doesn't have provision beyond a certain point, and while we sympathise with families, we can't just [assist] because we feel like it,” he said.
The national labour department said previously it would assist the families of workers who lost their lives, and employees who were injured, through entities under its jurisdiction, including the Compensation Fund and Unemployment Insurance Fund.
— Additional reporting by Gemma Kotze, visuals by Thabo Tshabalala
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