Limpopo crash survivors claim traffic officials ‘did nothing’ about overloading
Some of the survivors of Sunday evening’s deadly Limpopo bus crash claim the vehicle was overloaded.
The bus was travelling on the N1 in Musina on Sunday evening, when it crashed down an embankment on a mountainous section of the road.
It was transporting passengers from the Eastern Cape to Zimbabwe and Malawi when the collision occurred.
Forty-two people, including seven children, were killed, and more than 30 others were injured.
The dead included a 10-month-old girl.
According to the official travel records, 52 Zimbabwean and 21 Malawian nationals were on board.
However, about 90 people, including the driver, were involved in the crash.
The survivors say traffic officials stopped them several times, but they were allowed to pass until their bus lost control in Louis Trichardt.
“Just a good example; when you are coming from Joburg to Pretoria, we met more than five to six stops by traffic officers, just to see the door. Just to see, but didn’t do anything. He did nothing,” one of the survivors told Limpopo Premier Phophi Ramathuba at Siloam Hospital in Makhado.
President Cyril Ramaphosa called the crash a tragedy for all three nations and urged road users to do more to stay safe.
"This sadness is compounded by the fact that this incident has taken place during our annual transport month, where we place special focus on the importance of safety on our roads," he said in a statement.
The bus was travelling from Gqeberha, and its passengers included Malawians and Zimbabweans who were working in South Africa.
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