Cape Town - The owner of the bus that crashed off the notorious Van Rhyns Pass, killing 10 people and leaving 29 others hospitalised, said the vehicle was roadworthy and the incident was likely a driver error.
Carrying 38 construction workers to a solar plant in Ceres from the Northern Cape, the bus veered off the pass on Monday evening, with a witness on the scene reporting that the vehicle lost a wheel before crashing through the metal barrier and down to the foot of the mountain.
The passengers were moving from their work in Keimoes, Upington and Kenhardt to the bigger branch of Scatec in Ceres.
Torido Williams, who is based in the Northern Cape, said his bus was in good condition. Williams told the Cape Argus that the vehicle was roadworthy.
“My company was contracted by the solar company Scatec and we were going to Ceres.
“I feel bad about what happened because lives have been lost, but we are taking everything blow by blow.
“We are devastated about the accident.
“I’m still in the dark; I don’t know what happened because my driver is still in the hospital. I went to the accident site.
“The bus was roadworthy, went through a test two months ago, it had the licence, it had the permit and it had insurance.
“It was fine, this is just a driver error-accident,” he said.
In the Northern Cape, Kai Garib Mayor Marshall Matthys said that he planned to visit the affected families today.
“We will go as soon as we get the details. We wish to send our condolences to the families.
“We know that it was the high unemployment rate in this province, so many people go to the Western Cape for opportunities.
“And those people who were transported were working at the solar farm in Kenhardt for Scatec, the biggest solar farm in Africa, and they were taken to work in Ceres,” Matthys said.
Scatec spokesperson Aidan Wildschut confirmed that a bus carrying 38 people employed by one of their partners and contractors was involved in the accident.
“We have been informed that there have been 10 fatalities and several injuries. However, as the situation is still developing and the official police report is pending, we do not have further confirmed details at this time.
“The cause of the accident is not known yet and an investigation will follow. The safety and well-being of all individuals working on our projects, including our contractors’ employees, is of utmost importance to us.
“We are in close contact with the contracting company and are working with local authorities and emergency services to gather more information and provide support where possible.
“The contractor’s employees involved were from the Upington area and were employed at our projects in the Ceres area.
“Our thoughts are with the affected individuals and their families during this difficult time. We are committed to supporting our contractor in their response to this tragic event.
“We will provide updates as more information becomes available.”
Western Cape Department of Health and Wellness spokesperson, Dwayne Evans, confirmed that 10 people had died and 29 were in hospital in Vredendal.
“The deceased are all male. Ten men and three females incurred severe injuries, seven men and six females had moderate to serious injuries, while three men suffered minor injuries.
“They were all transported to Vredendal Hospital,” he said.
Police spokesperson Joseph Swartbooi said the deceased were aged between 30 and 52.
Mobility MEC Isaac Sileku said: “Our team is currently co-ordinating with the relevant authorities to offer assistance to the families of the deceased and to those injured.
“We are exploring all avenues of support, including counselling services, to help them cope with the aftermath of this tragic event.”
Social Development MEC Jaco Londt said in the aftermath of the crash, staff were immediately activated to assess whether there was a need for psychosocial support services.
“We will work with the SAPS and the Department of Health and Wellness to provide support such as trauma debriefing, should it be required. Since many of the affected are from the Northern Cape, we are liaising with DSD colleagues in that province who will also continue to provide support services to the victims and their families and loved ones,” he said.
Rural and Farmworkers Development Organisation director Billy Claasen called on the Department of Employment and Labour to conduct a thorough investigation.
“This is a sad day for our working class. It shows how far they need to go for a living. There are also rumours that some of these workers earned as low as R33 an hour as semi-skilled labourers. If this is the truth, it is exploitation.
“We call on the Department Labour to do a thorough investigation into this. We also call on the law enforcement authorities to do an investigation into the cause of the accident,” said Claasen