Durban — The South African Democratic Teachers Union (Sadtu) has added its voice to the N2 Pongola collision which claims 20 lives on Friday.
Deputy provincial secretary Nomarashiya Caluza said that the devastating accident has reminded the union just how reckless some people were on public roads.
“Not long ago, the province of KwaZulu-Natal was plagued by road carnages. School children have been victims many times as they commute every day to and from school. It is sad to hear that about 18 learners, one student teacher, and the driver lost their lives in this accident,” she said.
Caluza said that during the visit they witnessed the grief engulfing the families and schools after losing their loved ones.
Caluza explained that the purpose of the visit was to provide the necessary support and condolences.
Further, Sadtu sent out its heartfelt condolences to the affected families, the Pongola community, and affected schools, which are:
Victorious Independent Combined (10 learners) Ziqalele Primary (four learners), Thembikuhle Primary (two learners), and Sakhumuzi Primary (two learners).
“The Union as a social actor further commits to work with all stakeholders in dealing with this painful situation especially in providing support to the teachers, learners, and the families of the deceased. We urge all the law enforcement agencies which are involved in the matter to go deeper in their investigation so that the country can find solutions to these road carnages,” Caluza said.
The head of the Department of Education in KwaZulu-Natal, Nkosinathi Ngcobo after visiting the accident scene on the N2 on Monday said that it needed to be clarified that the crash was not linked to learner transport.
“The department provides learner transport for just over 60 000 learners, but the demand for learner transport is well over 100 000, there are learners deserving and who should be getting learner transport but they are not getting it because of budgetary constraints,” he said.
Ngcobo said the department was doing what it could with what it had, continuously adding buses.
“Some learners use their own privately arranged transport, as this was the case in this crash. As a department, it’s always painful when something like this happens, it does not matter whether they were using learner transport or not, such accidents affect us as a system and as a sector and that is why we appeal to all road users to be mindful of the rules of the road,” he said.
Daily News