The grisly death of a Ga-Rankuwa-based learner, who was killed after he allegedly fell from a school bus and run over by rear wheels on Thursday, has stirred stinging criticisms against the Department of Education with some people calling for the return of bus conductors.
The tragic loss of a Grade 6 learner at Modiselle primary school took place on Thursday afternoon as learners were being transported home after school.
Department spokesperson Steve Mabona said: “It is alleged that the learner fell from the scholar bus and the rear wheels went over him, resulting in him losing his life. The police are currently investigating the circumstances surrounding this incident.”
He said the department’s psycho-social support team visited the scene of the incident and subsequently the learner’s family.
Many have since taken to social media to express their deep-seated sadness and anger, calling for the department to bring back bus conductors as fresh pairs of eyes on the learners.
One of them Nadia Lee Mahlangu asked: “Why did bus conductors leave in the first place (because) children need to be monitored at all times? I am so disappointed. The pain of losing a child cannot be compared to anything in this world.”
Another social media user believed that hiring bus conductors would help bus drivers “because alone they cannot drive and check learners”.
Other people expressed concerns with the problem of overloading and unroadworthy buses.
“You need to sort out the issue of overloads in school buses, especially around Mabopane and Ga-Rankuwa. Some of the learners are even forced to walk to school,” wrote another user.
“MEC there is a problem with the scholar transport system. The overloading is crazy, you need to talk to the safety metro police to do their work,” an X (formerly Twitter) user said.
In a media statement, Gauteng Education MEC Matome Chiloane said he was deeply saddened by the tragic incident.
“Indeed, this is terribly saddening news. Scholar Transport is an initiative that forms part of our critical interventions to alleviate pressure from parents. As such, we expect our learners to be safely transported from home to school and back home. We call upon drivers to be extra vigilant of learner’s safety. We wish to convey our deepest condolences to the family and the school community,” he said.
Pretoria News