A group of schoolchildren were thrown out of a minibus when it crashed into a wall in Johannesburg yesterday.

 A video of a taxi rolling backwards and hitting a wall, causing the schoolchildren inside to be thrown out of the vehicle on impact, has emerged on social media. Andre Snyman of eBlokwatch, who shared the video on Facebook, said it happened in Kensington.  

According to Snyman, the video was captured on CCTV in King Edward Street. In the footage, the taxi is seen swerving across the road before slamming into the wall.  

Children thrown from taxi on impact

The impact caused the taxi’s sliding door to come off, after which schoolchildren fell onto the road – some nearly landing in front of the still-moving wheels.   

SAPS were contacted for comment but referred Caxton Network News to the Johannesburg Metro Police Department (JMPD).

JMPD spokesperson Superintendent Xolani Fihla said they are not aware of the incident.  

Fihla said the department’s command centre did not receive any such reports yesterday. 

“It’s either our officers didn’t attend to it, or they could have attended and [did] not report it, but I doubt that they wouldn’t report such a matter,” he said.

Watch the video of the Kensington incident:

Safety of school transport under the spotlight

This incident comes in the wake of a horrific scholar transport collision on the R553 outside Vanderbijlpark on Monday that claimed the lives of 14 children, after a Toyota Quantum  taxi and a tipper lorry collided.  

The driver of the taxi made his first appearance in the Vanderbijlpark Magistrate’s Court yesterday, where he abandoned his bail application. He has been charged with 14 counts of murder. The matter has been adjourned to March.  

On the same day, a seven-seater vehicle crashed into a tree in KZN while transporting nine schoolchildren home from school. The children were treated by ALS Paramedics for moderate to minor injuries before being transported to various hospitals for further care.

On Tuesday, concerned parents and community members stopped a minibus driver in  Vanderbijlpark for transporting 32 schoolchildren in a 15-seater taxi. 

On Wednesday, traffic officers in Polokwane intercepted an overloaded minibus, which was transporting 22 schoolchildren in a vehicle licensed to carry only seven. Upon seeing the officers, the driver abandoned the vehicle and fled on foot, leaving the children unattended. 

Yesterday morning, a collision occurred on the R510 between Thabazimbi and Northam near Amanda Mine in the Waterberg District involving a bakkie and a bus transporting 109 schoolchildren, wherein one person was killed and all the children injured.

A statement by the Limpopo Department of Transport said preliminary investigations suggest the bakkie was overtaking other vehicles when it collided head-on with the bus. The 58-year-old driver of the bakkie died.

The statement added that of the 109 children involved in the crash, 103 were taken to Thabazimbi Provincial Hospital, while six were transported to Amandelbult Mine Hospital for treatment.

Caxton Network News approached departmental spokesperson Matome Moremi-Taueatsoala for comment on whether the bus was licensed to transport that number of passengers, whether any action would be taken against the bus driver if it was overloaded, and whether the number of children taken to hospital was correct, amid discrepancies suggesting only seven learners were hospitalised.

“The bus driver was not at fault. As per our statement, the driver of the [light duty vehicle] was overtaking and collided head on with the bus,” he said and did not comment further, only adding that the information was as contained in the statement.

Transport department warns against reckless behaviour

Transport Minister Barbara Creecy this week said her department will not tolerate such reckless behaviour and will continue to work with law enforcement agencies to ensure that those responsible are held accountable.

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