Mbalula to target bus operators following horror EC crash
Transport Minister Fikile Mbalula has vowed to launch a massive campaign targeting public bus operators following the deadly crash in the Eastern Cape.
At least 25 people died after the bus they were travelling in went down a steep embankment on a gravel road in Willowvale on Monday.
READ: Ramaphosa calls for high-level investigation into horror bus crash
The bus, with mostly pensioners on board, was allegedly overloaded.
“We must leave no stone unturned in the investigation and we must answer with certainty whether it was the road, the bus or human conduct that landed the bus down that embankment,” Mbalula said on a visit to the crash site on Tuesday.
“We have to satisfy ourselves as to whether the bus was roadworthy, did it have an operating license, were the number of people in the bus within the legal limits, was the bus travelling within the permissible speed limit?”
Speaking to the SABC, Mbalula added that the government provided funding to allow the company to operate.
“This bus company is a cooperative bus company and it’s not like a private company. It is people who came together, supported by government to run this bus company.
“At the end of the day we should be responsible. Now, we have a lot of these buses that transport our people and at the same time they are not roadworthy.”
Mbalula said there needs to be accountability when so many lives are lost.
“While the investigation is continuing, we will not be sitting on our laurels twiddling thumbs. We will launch a massive safety compliance drive targeting public transport bus operations.
“No public transport vehicle should be on our roads unless it meets all safety requirements. Those who undermine the system and cut corners to fraudulently issue roadworthiness certificates when the vehicle should not be on the road, will face the full might of the law.”