Dorcas Lekota was on her way to see her newborn grandchild when she died in a horrific accident along the N1 near Mookgophong, Limpopo.
Her daughter gave birth to the child on Monday and Dorcas who works in Pretoria was excited to meet her first grandchild when tragedy struck.
Now, her family is among those of other victims who will have to wait for DNA tests to be conducted to confirm their identities.
Lekota’s brother William Lekota said Dorcas worked in Pretoria and was on her way home to Madikgale village, outside Polokwane, to see her daughter's newborn baby when the crash happened.
“My sister was on her way to see her grandchild, who is just two days old, when she died in the accident,” Lekota said.
The family's pain is shared by families of other passengers of the 22-seater minibus who died when the taxi collided with an SUV.
The family of George Motsamai, 29, who lived in Atteridgeville, said they were not coping.
Some relatives on Wednesday told Sowetan that they had been unable to locate their loved ones. They did not know the hospitals or mortuaries they had been taken to.
Clifford Mangwane, 16, is among the missing people.
Clifford’s mother Maria Mangwane, 51, said: “All I know is my son was on his way home from Atteridgeville and till now he has not arrived at home. I just got a call from someone from a taxi association who told me that my son was in a bus that got involved in an accident.”
Mangwane said she reported her son missing at a police station.
“I am waiting for the police to assist me in finding out where my son is,” said Mangwane.
Gigi Masogo’s family is equally distraught at not knowing whether she is still alive.
“I received a call today [on Wednesday] from the taxi association people and they told me that my sister was in the bus that was involved in the accident. I was told to go to Mookgophong Hospital tomorrow [today] to go and identify if she is among the dead bodies,” said her brother Martin Masogo.
“This is frustrating. The last time I spoke to her was at 4pm on Tuesday and I have not heard from her since then.”
Ezekiel Bopape, the owner of the minibus, who is also the secretary of the Pusela Taxi Association, said he was still shocked and pained.
“I'm deeply broken as I'm still trying to process the news of the tragedy. The driver called me [to say] that he's on his way home and later at night I received a call that I must go and check my minibus taxi because there is an accident in Mookgophong.
“I'm busy going up and down with the driver's family trying to understand the whole mess. There is nothing more I can say because I'm quite emotional right now.”
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