More than 20 school learners were injured when a minibus taxi collided with the bollards at the Plein Street gates of Parliament in Cape Town yesterday.
A case of reckless and/or negligent driving has been opened, according to police spokesperson Colonel Andre Traut.
The incident occurred shortly after 7am when there were 22 children in the taxi. The driver and 11 of the children were ‘seriously injured’ and 11 of the children ‘slightly injured’.
Parliament issued a statement on Friday, led by the Speaker of the National Assembly Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula and the Chairperson of the National Council of Provinces Amos Masondo, conveying condolences to the family and friends, saying one school pupil had died. However, no deaths have been reported.
Western Cape Education Minister Debbie Schäfer said ‘I am deeply distressed by [the] incident that happened outside Parliament … involving learners on their way to school. The injuries of the learners range from serious to minor, with learners being sent to Red Cross Hospital, Somerset Hospital, Green Point Clinic and District 6 clinic.’
According to Nomthandazo Zweni, Holy Cross Primary school principal, one of the learners told her that the taxi’s brakes had failed. She said this was the second school transport-related accident this year involving learners from her school.
‘The problem is that there isn’t a bus assigned to specific schools, so all these children are being transported with one vehicle to the different schools.’
Schools are urging parents to do the necessary due diligence when arranging school transport for their children. School officials don’t know if drivers coming to schools have the proper documentation.
Schäfer said that the driver was allegedly an unlicensed driver, the vehicle was allegedly not licensed, and there was allegedly no operating license.
[Image: Ruvan Boshoff for TimesLIVE]