DAILY SUN FRONT PAGE
Our ride of hell!
Daily Sun (September 5 2013) - THE FIRST DRIVER of the reed dance bus was drunk . . . But the second driver who took his place had a different problem: HE'D NEVER DRIVEN A BUS BEFORE!
This was the shocking revelation yesterday by maidens who survived Sunday's horrific accident in which eight girls and two adult women were killed.
The bus was taking them from the annual cultural reed dance in Nongoma, Enyokeni Palace, to Emahlongwa and KwaNdelu villages in Mzumbe near Port Shepstone. Daily Sun was told Menzi Bhengu (23), the man who was behind the steering wheel, did not want to drive the bus - because he couldn't!
Busisiwe Shazi (19) who is recovering at home after escaping the crash, said Benghu was made to drive the bus, apparently by cops, after the original driver was found to be drunk. Said Busisiwe: "The first driver who got behind the wheel couldn't stand up and was arrested.
"We saw cops talking to Benghu, who looked furious. We understand cops told him he had to drive the bus. The next minute he was behind the wheel. At that time we were singing celebratory traditional songs," said Busisiwe. "We went to the front of the bus to ask Bhengu if he was going to drive us home. But he told us angrily that he was not a driver, he only fixes.
"He said he had never driven a bus. He told us to sit down and shut up. The mood in the bus was tense after that."
The hell ride ended when the speeding bus, carrying 64 maidens and their minders, crashed at Nkwalini on the R66 highway near Melmoth. It hit road barriers and overturned, leaving bodies, beads and necklaces strewn along the road.
Busisiwe said she couldn't remember what had happened.
"There was a funny smell before the bus overturned. It was jumping lanes and almost collided with an oncoming car. The next thing I found myself sleeping on the roadside with most of my friends dead."
She said she was proud of her virginity, but would not go to a reed dance again. Zanele Msane, the aunt of two other survivors, Thandeka Doncabe (16) and her sister Thandi, said the girls told her Benghu was angry when he climbed into the bus. "Why did he drive if the cops didn't tell him to?" she asked.
Zanele told Daily Sun the minders found a bottle of brandy in the bus as they were about to leave the palace. "The driver could not reverse the bus at the palace. He had to be assisted by another driver."
A report was made to cops and the driver was breathalysed before the bus left. Zanele said Thandeka, who has been discharged from Eshowe Hospital, told her that the mechanic told everyone he could not drive a bus. "The girls were crying, saying the bus should not leave the palace. Cops also are to be blamed in this," said Zanele.
Meanwhile, a person who said he was one of the Malundi Bus Services owners said he could not comment on claims Bhengu was only a mechanic. Cop spokesman Captain Thulani Zwane said they were not aware of allegations the driver had never driven a bus before. "The allegations will be part of our investigation," he said.
Zwane referred Daily Sun to Department of Transport spokesman Kwanele Ncalane. Ncalane said: "We have established the driver has a heavy duty driver's licence, but the problem is we don't know if he ever drove a bus before." Benghu is in hospital.
) The names of the dead: Maidens: Gugu Mteshane (died on Tuesday in Inkosi Albert Hospital), Hlengiwe Duma, Noxolo Mnguni (studied at DUT), Maphindi Ntshingila (identified only on Monday due to her injuries), Buyisile Mbutho, Nondumiso Gumede, Nokwanda Khawula and Nolwandle Duma. Minders: Nomusa Myende and Mercy Msani.
See the Daily Sun mobi site for more on this and other stories....
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