TRAFFIC cops made a shocking discovery when they stopped a 14-seater taxi.
They found 58 pupils sitting on top of each other in the taxi.
A video of the incident has been circulating on social media.
It’s reported the taxi was operating as a scholar transport in Bela Bela, Limpopo. In the video, a Metro police is seen counting the kids as they get off the taxi.
Many social media users were shocked by the video.
- Rendani Makwarela wrote: “If he gets involved in an accident what will happen to the kids? We’ll say RIP innocent souls, but somebody knows about the overload yet did not report it.”
Other social media users blamed the parents.
- Thembeka Sontangana wrote: “Parents are so reckless with their kids. How can you pay monthly transport fee when you didno’t even check if your child has a seat in that taxi.”
Limpopo Transport and Community Safety spokesman Joel Seabi condemned the overloading of pupils.
“The matter in question has since been attended to by authorities in Bela Bela, where the taxi was impounded and the driver charged,” said Seabi.
He said the taxi was operating illegally and called on parents to ensure vehicles transporting their kids were compliant with the law.
- In KZN, parents from Senzakahle High School in Nhlazuka Village outside Richmond fear for their kids’ lives. Parents said 87 pupils were packed like potato sacks into two taxis.
SGB chairwoman Ntombenhle Chonco said they’d been begging the education department to increase taxis as the number of pupils increased since 2018, but their request fell on deaf ears. Yesterday, Chonco told Daily Sun some pupils no longer went to school as they feared getting into an accident.
A parent said she prayed every time her daughter left home as she didn’t know whether she’d come back or not. One of the pupils said it was difficult to focus in class as they were always thinking about the transport problem.
Education spokesman Kwazi Mthethwa said although they sympathised with pupils, the department couldn’t afford to transport all 2,8 million pupils in the province.
He said officials would look into the school’s problem and see how they could assist.