On Wednesday, July 10, 2024, a tragic accident claimed the lives of 12 schoolchildren and their driver in the Gauteng province of South Africa. Their minibus flipped over and caught fire in the town of Merafong, located west of Johannesburg. The accident happened just a day after schools started following the winter break.

According to Gauteng education department spokesman Steve Mabona, the school vehicle was rear-ended by a bakkie. This resulted in the minibus overturning and subsequently catching fire. A bakkie is a small truck, akin to a pickup, that is used for transporting commercial goods throughout South Africa.

Television footage illustrated the grim aftermath of the accident, showing the burnt-out minibus and schoolbooks strewn across the scene. Sello Maremane, a representative for the Gauteng traffic police department, stated that the children were “burnt beyond recognition,” necessitating forensic experts to identify the victims. The driver of the bakkie was hospitalized as well.

Authorities verified that 11 of the deceased children were students at Rocklands Primary School, while one was from Laerskool Blyvooruitsig in Carletonville. The ages of the children have not been disclosed, but these schools typically admit students between six and 13 years of age.

Seven additional children were injured and taken to a nearby hospital in Carletonville. By late afternoon, most of the injured had been discharged, as per local news reports.

Panyaza Lesufi, head of the Gauteng provincial government, and other officials visited the crash site and the hospital to extend their support to the affected families. Gauteng Education Minister Matome Chiloane expressed deep sorrow over the incident and said, “The loss of our children is a devastating blow to our community.”

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa expressed his sympathy and emphasized the importance of children’s safety. “This tragedy, which is not the first of its kind, demands that we exercise our obligation to protect our children with the utmost care,” he affirmed.

The fatal accident has triggered calls for tighter regulations and improved enforcement of existing road safety laws. “I have always said to parents we need to check the condition of the vehicles that we put our kids in,” Chiloane commented at the scene.

Despite having one of the most developed road networks in Africa, South Africa unfortunately also has some of the continent’s worst road safety statistics. In March, 45 people died when their bus fell off a bridge into a ravine in the north of the country while traveling to a religious event. The bus was en route from neighboring Botswana to Moria, where an Easter pilgrimage and service have drawn more than a million attendees in recent years.

In February, a bus crash claimed the lives of at least nine supporters of the African National Congress party who were returning from an electoral rally in the eastern part of the country.

In May, a head-on collision between a minibus taxi and a truck on a major road in the northern province of Limpopo resulted in 13 fatalities.

The Automobile Association (AA) of South Africa has labeled the country’s annual road fatality figures as “a national crisis.” According to AA data released last year, 12,436 individuals died on South African roads between January 2022 and December 2022. This figure is slightly down from the 12,541 deaths recorded during the same period in 2021.