A PUPIL told a “jerking” bakkie to drop her off, minutes before the vehicle was involved in a horrific crash that killed six fellow pupils, including her own sister.
Phindiwe Ndwangu, 17, could have been among the dead in the accident in Libode last week if she had not listened to a little voice that told her to get off the bakkie .
Six pupils being transported from Mabalengwe Senior Secondary School at Coza village near Libode died at Weyi village, not far from their homes in Siqikini village last Wednesday .
Phindiwe noticed something was wrong with the bakkie, and asked the driver to stop so she could get off.
Barely 10 minutes later she came across the gruesome sight of six bodies strewn over the embankment and injured pupils screaming for help.
The bakkie was a wrecked mangle of metal and rubber.
“I was the last person to see them alive and now the first person to see them dead,” the traumatised Grade 11 pupil said.
She then had to inform the villagers about the tragedy.
Her elder sister Yandiswa Ndwangu, 18, and her best friend Zusiphe Mdatyulwa, 17, with whom she shared a desk, were among the dead.
“This is too heavy for me. I cannot absorb it,” said Phindiwe.
She decided to get off the bakkie as it approached a dangerous embankment with sharp bends because the way it was moving frightened her.
“It was jerking, sometimes moving fast, sometimes slow. Something was mechanically wrong. It was not the way it used to be.
“I was scared. I gave my books to my sister, and alighted at a stop where another two other pupils were dropped off,” she said.
The Weyi hill with its sharp curves where the crash occurred is just after the stop .
On Tuesday Phindiwe went to school for the first time since the accident. She walked the round trip of more than 30km on foot because she is too frightened to get into a vehicle.
Five of the dead – Asandiso Ndleleni, 19; Yandiswa Ndwangu, 18; Zusiphe Mdatyulwa, 17; Nikezwa Gwadiso, 16; and Philasande Mantubu, 17, were in Grade 11 and the sixth, Bonke Ntuli, was in Grade 10.
Their combined memorial service will be held at the school in Coza tomorrow and their mass funeral will be held at Siqikini on March 22.
Phindiwe, who has had nightmares since the accident, said she had not received any professional counselling either at school or at home. —
Fear saves teen from tragedy
Phindiwe Ndwangu, 17, could have been among the dead in the accident in Libode last week if she had not listened to a little voice that told her to get off the bakkie .
Six pupils being transported from Mabalengwe Senior Secondary School at Coza village near Libode died at Weyi village, not far from their homes in Siqikini village last Wednesday .
Phindiwe noticed something was wrong with the bakkie, and asked the driver to stop so she could get off.
Barely 10 minutes later she came across the gruesome sight of six bodies strewn over the embankment and injured pupils screaming for help.
The bakkie was a wrecked mangle of metal and rubber.
“I was the last person to see them alive and now the first person to see them dead,” the traumatised Grade 11 pupil said.
She then had to inform the villagers about the tragedy.
Her elder sister Yandiswa Ndwangu, 18, and her best friend Zusiphe Mdatyulwa, 17, with whom she shared a desk, were among the dead.
“This is too heavy for me. I cannot absorb it,” said Phindiwe.
She decided to get off the bakkie as it approached a dangerous embankment with sharp bends because the way it was moving frightened her.
“It was jerking, sometimes moving fast, sometimes slow. Something was mechanically wrong. It was not the way it used to be.
“I was scared. I gave my books to my sister, and alighted at a stop where another two other pupils were dropped off,” she said.
The Weyi hill with its sharp curves where the crash occurred is just after the stop .
On Tuesday Phindiwe went to school for the first time since the accident. She walked the round trip of more than 30km on foot because she is too frightened to get into a vehicle.
Five of the dead – Asandiso Ndleleni, 19; Yandiswa Ndwangu, 18; Zusiphe Mdatyulwa, 17; Nikezwa Gwadiso, 16; and Philasande Mantubu, 17, were in Grade 11 and the sixth, Bonke Ntuli, was in Grade 10.
Their combined memorial service will be held at the school in Coza tomorrow and their mass funeral will be held at Siqikini on March 22.
Phindiwe, who has had nightmares since the accident, said she had not received any professional counselling either at school or at home. —
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