On Wednesday, July 10, 2024, a tragic accident occurred in Merafong, a town west of Johannesburg, in Gauteng province, South Africa. A minibus transporting 12 schoolchildren overturned and caught fire, killing all the children and the driver. This incident happened a day after the reopening of schools following the winter break.
The minibus was reportedly struck from behind by a bakkie, a small truck similar to a pickup that is commonly used to transport commercial goods across South Africa. The collision caused the minibus to overturn and subsequently catch on fire, according to Steve Mabona, the spokesman for Gauteng education department.
Television footage revealed the burnt-out remains of the minibus, with schoolbooks strewn across the scene. Sello Maremane, a representative for the Gauteng traffic police department, noted that the children were “burnt beyond recognition,” and that forensic experts would be required to identify the victims. The bakkie’s driver was also hospitalized.
Authorities have confirmed that 11 of the deceased children were students at Rocklands Primary School while one was from Laerskool Blyvooruitsig in Carletonville. The exact ages of the children involved in the accident are yet to be determined. However, the schools they attended typically serve children between six and 13 years old.
Seven other children were injured in the accident and were taken to a nearby hospital in Carletonville. By late afternoon, according to local reports, most of these injured children had been discharged.
Panyaza Lesufi, the head of Gauteng provincial government, along with other officials, visited the crash scene and the hospital to provide support to the grieving families. “This event profoundly saddens me,” stated Gauteng Education Minister Matome Chiloane. “The loss of our children is a devastating blow to our community.”
President Cyril Ramaphosa conveyed his condolences and underscored the vital importance of children’s safety. “This tragedy, which is not the first of its kind, demands that we exercise our obligation to protect our children with the utmost care,” he remarked.
The accident has led to demands for stricter regulations and better enforcement of existing road safety laws. “I have always said to parents we need to check the condition of the vehicles that we put our kids in,” Chiloane commented at the scene.
Despite having one of Africa’s most advanced road networks, South Africa also has some of the worst road safety records. In March, a bus carrying 45 people to a religious event plunged off a bridge into a ravine in the north of the country, killing everyone on board. The bus had traveled from neighboring Botswana to Moria, where an Easter pilgrimage and service have drawn more than a million worshippers in recent years.
In another accident in February, a bus carrying at least nine supporters of the African National Congress party crashed while returning from an electoral rally in the eastern part of the country, resulting in their deaths.
In May, a head-on collision between a minibus taxi and a truck on a main road in the province of Limpopo resulted in the death of 13 people.
According to the South African Automobile Association (AA), the country’s annual road fatality numbers constitute “a national crisis.” As per the AA’s data from last year, there were 12,436 recorded deaths on South African roads between January 2022 and December 2022, a slight decrease from the 12,541 deaths recorded during the same period in 2021.