While rushing his sick wife to the hospital on Tuesday, Fulufelo Makhado encountered traffic caused by wreckage from an accident on the N12 near his home in Daveyton, Ekurhuleni. He barely slowed down thinking it was just another tragic occurrence on the road.
It was not until he arrived at the hospital that his cellphone started to ring non-stop, but even then he could not pick up the call as he was busy with the security admin of getting into the facility.
On Monday four primary school pupils, including two brothers, were killed in a collision on the N12 westbound near the Putfontein Road off-ramp.
Lubanzi Nhlapo, 7, who was on his way home from Rynfield Primary School, was one of the casualties.
When Nhlapo’s uncle, Makhado, finally picked up his phone, the voice on the other end asked: “Where are you? There is an accident on the N12 and Lubanzi’s transport is involved.”
Shocked by the news, he responded: “I just passed an accident on the N12.” He dropped his wife off and rushed to the scene.
“I saw him immediately when I arrived, he was lying on the ground. It was a terrible scene. He was just an innocent boy. He was a pleasant child,” said Makhado.
With a trembling voice, he said he would never forget how he dismissed an accident as just another statistic, but little did he know it had taken the life of a loved one.
“I passed him on the freeway, if I had observed I would have stopped at that time. I’m so hurt.”
He remembered Lubanzi as a boy who had the promise of a bright future.
“We were expecting a lot from him. It’s the worst thing to happen. When I last saw him on Sunday he was happy,” said Makhado.
Visiting the families on Wednesday, Gauteng MEC for basic education Matome Chiloane said he had spoken to premier Panyaza Lesufi about finding closure for the families and who was responsible for the accident.
The family of another seven-year-old who died said they were waiting for post-mortem results and would then go to Ga-Masemola, Limpopo, where Kgosi Malatji will be laid to rest on Saturday.
His mother, Shelly Rapolai, 35, said though she was comforted that the department had come to see them in their time of grief, it was not clear what kind of help they would get.
“No-one said anything about helping us, they just came to see us,” she said.
Recounting the accident scene, she said all she had was questions.
“The way they looked, I wonder if they had safety belts, why was the driver not injured, what happened. Was it overloaded?”
She found out about the crash shortly after it happened, she said.
“I was fetched around 9pm by the driver’s wife, long after it happened. What I saw is an image that I will never forget, he looked so bad. I never imagined I would see him bleeding that much,” said Rapolai.
On Monday when he left for school, Malatji was in high spirits.
“He was telling me, 'Mommy, it’s my friend’s birthday today and I'm going to get you a big piece of cake.’ He said he loved me and that was the last time I saw him. Little did I know I was seeing him for the last time.
“He was a bubbly person, he used to ask me so many questions. We were very close. The school has expressed their condolences, they don’t know what to say, everyone is overwhelmed,” said the mother.
To her distress, the scholar transport owner has yet to reach out to her.
“I tried calling to ask what happened and they don’t say anything,” she added.
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