JOHANNESBURG - Families of children involved in the Vanderbijlpark scholar transport crash say they have yet to meet the owner of the vehicle or the taxi association to which the driver belongs.
A parent of one of the survivors, Tello Matolo, said families have not had the opportunity to engage with the association because the scene was chaotic in the immediate aftermath of the crash.
However, Matolo says he is now ready to face the owner.
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Matolo’s child, a Grade 8 pupil, survived the crash but is currently in the intensive care unit (ICU).
He says the tragedy has left families deeply distraught and that both the families of the deceased and survivors urgently need psychological support.
The Vanderbijlpark community was plunged into mourning on Monday after a scholar transport carrying schoolchildren was involved in a crash with a truck.
It is alleged that the scholar transport driver attempted to overtake another vehicle and failed to notice an oncoming truck, resulting in a head-on collision.
READ | Death toll in Vaal scholar transport crash revised to 12
Initial reports indicated that 13 pupils had died, but the Gauteng Department of Education later revised the death toll to 12 on Tuesday.
Both the scholar transport driver and the truck driver survived the crash and are expected to play a crucial role in investigations.
Three pupils remain in hospital receiving medical care. One of them had to be airlifted to a private facility after being listed in a critical condition.