The owner of the bus involved in the tragic crash on the Van Rhyns Pass, which killed 10 people and left 29 others in hospital, said the vehicle was roadworthy and that the accident was probably due to driver error.
The bus crashed around 5:20pm on the R27 between kilometre marks 37 and 38, Cape {town} Etc reports.
Also read: Bus crash on Vanrhyns Pass results in 10 fatalities, several more injured
At the time, it was speculated that passengers hailed from Upington, Kenhardt and Keimoes in the Northern Cape and were en route to Ceres in the Western Cape.
IOL confirmed that 38 construction workers were being transported to the Scatec solar plant in Ceres when the bus veered off the pass.
According to a witness on the scene, the vehicle lost a wheel, crashed through the metal barrier and plummeted down to the foot of the mountain.
Torido Williams, who is based in the Northern Cape and who is the owner of the bus, said the vehicle was in good condition.
‘My company was contracted by the solar company Scatec and we were going to Ceres,’ he told Cape Argus.
‘I feel bad about what happened because lives have been lost, but we are taking everything blow by blow. We are devastated about the accident.’
‘I’m still in the dark; I don’t know what happened because my driver is still in the hospital. I went to the accident site. The bus was roadworthy, went through a test two months ago, it had the licence, it had the permit and it had insurance.’
‘It was fine, this is just a driver error-accident,’ he added.
Kai !Garib Mayor Marshall Matthys said he would visit the affected families today.
‘We will go as soon as we get the details. We wish to send our condolences to the families. We know that it was the high unemployment rate in this province, so many people go to the Western Cape for opportunities.’
‘And those people who were transported were working at the solar farm in Kenhardt for Scatec, the biggest solar farm in Africa, and they were taken to work in Ceres.’
Scatec spokesperson Aidan Wildschut says the company was informed that 10 people lost their lives and several others were injured.
‘However, as the situation is still developing and the official police report is pending, we do not have further confirmed details at this time.’
‘The cause of the accident is not known yet and an investigation will follow. The safety and well-being of all individuals working on our projects, including our contractors’ employees, is of utmost importance to us.’
‘We are in close contact with the contracting company and are working with local authorities and emergency services to gather more information and provide support where possible.’
‘The contractor’s employees involved were from the Upington area and were employed at our projects in the Ceres area.’
‘Our thoughts are with the affected individuals and their families during this difficult time. We are committed to supporting our contractor in their response to this tragic event.’
‘We will provide updates as more information becomes available.’
According to Dwayne Evans, spokesperson for the Western Cape Department of Health and Wellness, the deceased were all male, aged between 30 and 52.
A total of ten men and three women sustained severe injuries. Seven men and six women had moderate to serious injuries and three men suffered minor injuries.
All were transported to Vredendal Hospital.
‘This is a sad day for our working class. It shows how far they need to go for a living. There are also rumours that some of these workers earned as low as R33 an hour as semi-skilled labourers. If this is the truth, it is exploitation,’ said Rural and Farmworkers Development Organisation director Billy Claasen.
‘We call on the Department of Labour to do a thorough investigation into this. We also call on the law enforcement authorities to do an investigation into the cause of the accident.’
Also read:
South African Navy employee arrested for DUI in Simon’s Town crash
Picture: Screenshot of video taken at the scene / Supplied / Car Towing Services
