Agony has struck the families of commuters who were on a Putco bus that caught fire along the notorious Moloto Road as they are unable to locate their relatives after the deadly blaze claimed the lives of six people.
Families have been torn apart as they have spent the past three days driving to Steve Biko Academic Hospital’s mortuary where the six bodies were taken and to a number of hospitals where no one was able to give them answers on whether their loved ones were admitted there or not.
Frustrated families have been criss-crossing Mpumalanga and Gauteng in the hope of locating their loved ones following Friday’s accident near Roodeplaat Dam in Tshwane.
The Putco bus received the green light to be on the road two weeks before catching fire, killing six and injuring several others.
The bus was carrying 63 commuters from Tshwane to Tweefontein, Mpumalanga, when the incident happened. At least 57 people were taken to various hospitals.
The deceased all burnt beyond recognition.
Tshwane Emergency Services said the deceased had not been identified, adding that the injured passengers were taken to different health facilities, which include Mamelodi, KwaMhlanga, Steve Biko and Milpark hospitals.
Joanna Nkabinde is among the missing people families are searching for. Her niece, Phumzile Nkabide, said: “It is frustrating to the family to run around looking for her and no one is able to give us clear information as to where she is. We are hurt. We are torn. We have started trying to accept the possibility that she may be no more. People in the neighbourhood started coming to give us prayers since yesterday (Saturday).”
“My aunt had recently bought a stand where she wants to build [a house] for her children. One of her children [28 years old] is pregnant. She is due to deliver her baby next month. Do you understand what this could do to her?” Nkabinde asked.
Nkabinde’s other niece, Nomalanga Radebe, said the family had been to different hospitals and they had not found her.
“We went to Montana, Steve Biko Academic and Mamelodi hospitals and did not find her. We’ve been everywhere, even Kalafong Hospital [in Atteridgeville]. Right now there is no one from the government who is in contact with us. Yesterday (Saturday), some of the family members went to Kameelsdrift police station. The police officer in charge of the case told them to wait for Monday as forensic experts do not work on weekends,” Radebe said.
Nkabinde works in the Pretoria inner city and her routine is to travel home in Tweefontein, Mpumalanga, every Friday on a Putco bus.
Radebe said people who were on the bus who knew her aunt informed her that they saw her before the fire but did not see her afterwards.
Refiloe Machete took to Facebook asking for anyone who could help locate her aunt, Busisiwe Mahlangu, who was one of the passengers.
Machete told Sowetan yesterday : “My family is still searching. They’ve gone to all the hospitals where the people could have been taken and they could not find her. We cannot establish whether my aunt has died or not ... it is really painful. We’ve gone as far as Milpark [in Johannesburg].”
Machete said Mahlangu has three children aged between nine and 25 and travelled regularly between Gauteng and Mpumalanga for work.
Neither police nor the Tshwane Emergency Service were able to provide what help is being given to the families to locate their loved ones.
Provincial police spokespersons Capt Mavela Masondo and Brig Mathapelo Peters did not respond to requests for comment yesterday.
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Putco spokesperson Matlaka Motloung said it has commissioned forensic experts to investigate the cause of the fire. She said the bus had just undergone a major service on May 7, including a certificate of roadworthiness.
“We have a fleet of 1,400 buses. We cannot paint it and say the entire fleet has a problem. We don’t know what the problem is. Let us wait for the experts to complete their work. Probably within the next seven days, they will give us a report. They will tell if it was mechanical or maintenance issue but at this stage I don’t know what might have caused the fire,” Motloung said.
She added that the company has a maintenance schedule that it sticks to for all the buses.
But commuters now have reason to be concerned. In March, one of the Putco buses caught fire on its own while on the N1 south near East Lynne. There were no passengers and the driver escaped unharmed.
The spokesperson of the National Union of Metalworker of SA, Phakamile Hlubi-Majola, said the bus fires were a concern.
“We have deep fears as a trade union about the safety of workers. We have concerns about the standards of the maintenance of these buses. Our shop stewards have raised these concerns with the management of Putco...They have said in their responses to us that they cannot afford to make the necessary changes in maintenance,” Hlubi-Majola said.
Gauteng transport MEC Jacob Mamabolo visited one of the survivors at Steve Biko Academic Hospital yesterday.
“The call I’m making is that Putco must ensure that people are safe. If they don’t, as government we will take harsh action against them,” Mamabolo said.
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