The deaths of six pupils from Ndamase Senior Secondary has left pupils and staff in unimaginable pain.
A collision between a truck and a stationary bakkie saw pupils sitting on the side of the T30 road being struck. Nine were injured and one is still in a serious condition in hospital.
At a memorial service organised by the school on Wednesday, principal Unathi Zuma said the faces of the pupils were still etched in everyone’s memories.
“We are grieving,” he told families.
“We all have a huge open wound inside.
“Our hearts have been crushed and we believe a dark cloud is hanging over this institution.”
However, he said enormous support had poured in from various sources, including the department of education which had brought in psychosocial services, and the SA Council of Churches, which brought pastors to help counsel staff and pupils.
Those killed were named as grade 11 pupils Nomvume Ngxaki, Liviwe Gobo and Lutho Mbalekwa, all 17, Phumeza Ndamase,15, and Alizwa Bango and Ayabonga Ndlangwe, both 16.
The Dispatch reported last week that the pupils had been on their way home shortly after 3pm when tragedy struck on the tarred T30 road, less than 600m from their school.
The driver of the truck loaded with building materials reportedly lost control and collided with the bakkie before hitting the pupils, who were sitting on steel crash bars alongside the road.
It is believed the truck’s brakes failed.
Wednesday’s emotional memorial service was attended by AmaMpondo AseNyandeni or Western Mpondoland King Ndamase Ndamase.
While some of the families praised the school for organising the event, saying it had helped them start the healing process after losing their children, the occasion was too much for other relatives and classmates who broke down and sobbed.
Nurses from a nearby clinic as well as paramedics at the school were kept busy trying to comfort those who collapsed during the event.
Zuma told mourners the bakkie involved in the accident usually fetched pupils outside the school gates.
But on that tragic day, a pupil had been left behind and so it waited some metres down the road.
“The school went out at 3pm on Tuesday last week and at about 3.15pm, I was walking around the school when I heard a loud bang,” Zuma said.
“Three minutes later I got a call from one of the teachers and I drove to the scene.”
A total of 15 children were involved in the accident.
Nine were rushed to hospital in Mthatha; seven were treated and discharged the same day.
Another was discharged later, but one is still in hospital in a serious condition.
Zuma said the pupils had not been only a beacon of hope for their families and the school but had been possible future leaders of the country.
Nomvume’s father, Mncedisi Hlomendlini, said the family was distraught.
Ayabonga’s aunt, Nomakorinte Ngcukana, said the family had buried the pupil’s grandmother only three months before.
“We are somehow all related, so the entire Dumasi village is mourning,” she said.
“We are illiterate, so we were proud to see the likes of Ayabonga doing well in school.”
Last week, provincial transport spokesperson Unathi Binqose confirmed a culpable homicide docket had been opened at the Ngqeleni police station after the accident.
DispatchLIVE
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