ZCC bus crash: Most of the dead were church leaders
Church contemplates temporary closure to ‘heal’
The Secretary of St Engenas Zion Christian Church Molepolole, Philip Sebifo has informed The Midweek Sun that they have lost a significant number of church leaders to the infamous bus crash that killed 45 Batswana in South Africa.
Speaking to this publication on Tuesday, Sebifo said on the bus were four pastors together with their wives. Then there were about 10 to 15 more church leaders known as baetapele ba kereke.
Moreover, Sebifo explained that majority of the people on the bus were females with only a small section of the group male. The sole survivor, an eight year-old, was the only minor in the bus.
“We are sad to have lost such a huge number of church members, we are a big church with many worshipers but losing close to 50 people is too much. A wide gap has been opened and it will take us many years to heal from this tragedy,” Sebifo said.
They are even contemplating closing the church temporarily after repatriating the bodies and burial to allow for their hearts to recover. “No amount of time can heal us, everybody is in pain, this is the most painful thing to have ever happened to the church.”
He explained that the bus left Botswana on Wednesday and crossed the border into South Africa on Thursday. Accompanying the bus was a small car and a kombi carrying 14 passengers.
From what they have gathered, they got lost and on realising this, those traveling by kombi and the small vehicle decided to reroute.
“They told those on the bus that they will be taking the other direction, while those on the bus decided to proceed ahead hoping that they would be able to arrive at their destination.
“Unfortunately, the accident happened and 45 died leaving the eight year-old as the sole survivor,” he said.
He said those traveling by kombi only got alerted of the tragic incident after arriving at their destination in Moria. Given the circumstances they found themselves in, they all re-traced their steps to Botswana.