She was one of a number of children of Khul’unolwazi Primary who was on their way to Verena for a sports day, but Nokulunga’s bus never arrived.

While the coal stove in the corner of the Ntuli’s little kitchen exuded its warmth, Nokulunga’s mother Elizabeth, said that the family remained in the dark about the accident in which one other pupil was seriously injured.

The department of education confirmed that Nokulunga died on the scene of the accident next to the Langkloof entrance to Verena.
Altogether 34 children were taken to hospital and were discharged the same day except one, who was reunited with her family on Monday, following two nights in hospital.

According to the Verena SAPS a white bakkie travelling behind the bus, tried to overtake it without giving thought to oncoming vehicles.

An oncoming Polo attempted to avoid a head-on collision with the bakkie and collided with the bus, prompting the driver to lose control and roll.

When the Observer came knocking on Monday, Nokulunga’s 6-year old sister, Thobile, ran around the yard blissfully unaware that her older sister would never enter the front gate of their green house again.

“She thinks her sister is still at school,” Nokulunga’s dad Amos explains, adding that neither him nor his wife had gathered the guts to shatter the girls’ innocent existence.

The truth will however undoubtedly dawn on Thobile when she takes up position under her mother’s mourning blanket, next to the empty grave of her “Sis’omkulu”. .

While friends and relatives flocked to the Ntuli house, a delegation of departmental officials descended on the school to provide counselling for Nokolunga’s friends.

“She was always so playful but very consistent in her schoolwork,” Nokulunga’s teary grandmother Linah Mahlangu, told the Observer before Amos chimed in proudly, emphasizing his daughter’s love for English and maths.

“We are very saddened by the loss,” departmental spokesman Jasper Zwane extended condolences, adding that the department would assist the family with any needs which may arise.

Meanwhile the Ntuli’s were readying themselves to welcome droves of mourners from every corner of the close knit Extension 24 community.

It took the Observer less than five minutes to trace the family when the school refused to divulge any information.

A case of culpable homicide is being investigated. The driver of the Polo was slightly injured while the bakkie driver got into bed that night, unscathed.