Bizarre twist in deadly Vanderbijlpark pupil-transport collision

In a bizarre twist of fate, all four children of the man who owns the minibus taxi involved in a collision in which 14 school pupils were killed this week survived.

Jimmy Vinger’s son, Ayanda Dludla, 22, who was driving the minibus, and his schoolgirl daughter, who was a passenger, were the only two in the vehicle not killed in Monday’s crash in Vanderbijlpark, while Vinger’s two younger daughters, who usually travel in the taxi, did not go to school that day.

One of them was suspended from school, while the other decided to stay home.

In an emotional interview with the Sunday Times, Vinger said his disoriented son had called him moments after the crash, and that he in turn had told the parents of the children who were passengers in the taxi about the accident in a WhatsApp voice note.

Dludla has been charged with 14 counts of murder, as well as attempted murder, driving without a valid licence and driving an unlicensed vehicle. He has not applied for bail.

Dashcam video footage shows the accident occurred when Dludla overtook several vehicles, resulting in a collision with an oncoming truck.

Vinger, who is the deputy chair of Gauteng Education Transport Services and a pastor at the African Immanuel Assemblies of God church in Sebokeng, said he had only rekindled his relationship with his son two years ago, and that making him a driver was how he was building a relationship with him.

“He is a good boy,’ he said. ”Everything being said about him is lies. He is a very humble, cool and collected person. He doesn’t even drink alcohol.”

“When I saw him at the scene, he looked like he had lost his mind. He was crying nonstop and apologising to me, saying, ‘I know you wanted to build a good future.’”

Vinger said when they got home, his son’s first instinct was to go and apologise to the families. But then he asked him, “Papa, tell me, how is prison?” and he replied, “I don’t know.”

Vinger said he was haunted by grief and unanswered questions about the crash and that he had stayed at home since the accident, as he did not know how to explain what had happened to the public. “May they forgive me. I can’t sleep. I’m not OK,” he said.

However, he added that the community had been supportive of him. “People love me. My neighbours have been coming around to comfort me. I help so many people,” he said.

“I keep saying to God, ‘Why would you allow the devil to win when I pray so much and keep your word? What is your purpose?’”

The question is why the minibus taxi driver did not move back to the left when the other taxi gave him space to move back. He had an escape route

—  Craig Proctor-Parker, accident reconstruction expert

Among those mourning the loss of a child is Mamokete Sefatsa and her daughter, Felani, both of whom had children in the taxi.

Sefatsa’s son, Phehello Motaung, 18, died in the crash, along with her seven-year-old grandson Lesego Sefatsa. Both were laid to rest on Saturday in Sebokeng.

When Felani arrived at the scene, she struggled to identify Lesego at first.

“I saw him breathing, but apparently he was gasping for his last breath,” she said. “He was face down in the rubble, and he took longer to be found. It was hard going from body to body [looking] for him. When we finally found him, he didn’t look like my little boy. I was not sure if it was him. His face was torn and bloody. It was only the following day, when he had been patched up at the mortuary, that I recognised him.”

Mamokete wept when she recalled a voice note Phehello sent her during the December holidays telling her that he was going to do big things in 2026. “He said, ‘Mama, next year I’m going to get married and buy a big house on a hill, and I will make sure it has escalators so that you don’t struggle to go upstairs.’”

Both of the children lived with her.

“The owner [of the minibus] is a pastor at our church, [and] we trusted him. We would even call him Papa Jimmy. I’m disappointed in him,” she said.

“Phehello was a loving child, forever smiling and always at church. He loved the band and [musical] instruments. He lived to worship. He was a considerate and sensible child.”

The other pupils who died are Buhle Radebe, Bokamoso Mokhobo, Sibongile Madonsela, Leano Moiloa, Letlotlo Makwe, Ofentse Vinger (a relative of the owner), Lindokuhle Mabaso, Puleng Maphalla, Naledi Motsapi, Bohlale Lekekela, Thato Moetji and Sagwadi Mathe.

Meanwhile, accident reconstruction expert Craig Proctor-Parker said that though the direct cause of the accident was “unequivocally” the minibus taxi driver, on the face of it both vehicles probably could have avoided the crash if they had reacted earlier.

“At 21 seconds into the video footage … you can see the minibus taxi is already on the wrong side of the road,” he said. “Both the minibus and the truck can already see each other.

“What is notable is that we see a queue of cars. [The minibus driver] is on the wrong side of the road, and it’s not as if he’s just attempting to overtake one car. No other taxis were overtaking, which plays into the driver’s psyche.”

At 26 seconds, both vehicles are travelling towards each other.

“That’s a long time. You’ve got enough time to see someone ahead of you, perceive them, and slow down and return to your side of the road, or stop or drive off the road. Interestingly, the minibus taxi next to the taxi that crashed was acutely aware there was impending danger, as he moved over to the left-hand side.”

Proctor-Parker added that the truck driver clearly saw the impending danger and started to move to his left.

“The question is why the minibus taxi driver did not move back to the left while the other taxi gave him space to move back. He had an escape route. I would suggest he probably panicked.”

Lesego’s father, Chris Masenya, said he was not invested in the court case, as the only thing that would amount to justice for him was if his son came back to life. “[This] was not an issue of driver ability, but full-blown, gross negligence,” he said.

Masenya does not have much faith in the latest blitz by the Gauteng government on the pupil-transport industry. “Where was that urgency before we lost our kids? It’s a phase, [and] in the [next] two months we will be back in the same spot.”

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