SEBOKENG - Calls are growing for parents to play a more active role in rooting out unsafe scholar transport.
Three pupils were laid to rest at a mass funeral in Sebokeng on Sunday.
They are among the 14 pupils from seven schools who were killed on Monday when their scholar transport vehicle slammed into a truck in Vanderbijlpark.
Pressure is also mounting on scholar transport operators and associations to obey the law or face arrest.
Six-year-old Ofentshe Vinger had just started Grade 1 at Oliver Lodge Primary School when tragedy struck.
His mother was inconsolable, and a relative read her tribute.
Hoërskool Vanderbijlpark lost five pupils, including Bokamoso Mokhobo, who was in Grade 8 and Thato Moetjie, who was in matric.
Authorities are once again pleading for vigilance.
"To all parents, we issue a clarion call to vet every vehicle, ask for a license," said Sindisiwe Chikunga, Minister of Women, Youth and Persons with Disabilities.
"To operators and owners, you do not carry loads, you carry futures. If your profit model requires cutting corners, then your model is unfit for this country’s children."
Three pupils remain in hospital.
For the families, the process is far from over.
The legal battle for accountability now begins.
The 22-year-old driver, Ayanda Dludla, abandoned his bail application and will return to court on 5 March.
- eNCA’s Manqoba Mchunu reports.