Weekend Argus (Saturday Edition)
August ever a month of tragedies
8 Bombing, school bus crashes remembered
AS THE old saying goes, “history always repeats itself ”.
So have the tragedies of August over the years.
From the Planet Hollywood bombing 20 years ago, the 2011 bus accident in Knysna where 14 pupils were killed to the death of 10 schoolchildren at the infamous Buttskop level crossing in Blackheath in 2010.
A bomb was allegedly planted beneath the footrest of the bar in the Planet Hollywood Restaurant at the V&A Waterfront.
Brian Walsh and some human resources staff members at one of Cape Town’s banks decided to go to the Planet Hollywood for a farewell dinner for colleagues who were leaving the bank.
But, as tragedy struck, the team couldn’t finish their meal.
Walsh remembered the bombing and shared the horrific experience in a letter to the Weekend Argus.
“That evening three of our group were standing unwittingly, on the very spot of the planted bomb, ordering drinks for the people seated at a table nearby, when the bomb exploded. The three of us at the bar, Fanie Schoeman, Brian Duddy and myself, had our feet blown off our legs.
“Andrew Paris, who had greeted us at the bar and was walking away at that very moment had the back of his one leg blown away and as a result nearly lost it.
“Schoeman died that night on the floor of the restaurant, Duddy lost consciousness, never to regain it and died a few days later, while I survived having sustained severe injuries and losing both his legs.”
Purpose is to
Fanie and Brian
To commemorate the day, the survivors will again meet at the Waterfront for lunch.
“The purpose is to remember that dreadful day, to remember Fanie and Brian and for us to celebrate our lives and to finish that meal we did not get to eat all those years ago,” he said.
In another incident, on August 24, 2011, the community of Knysna suffered the tragedy of a bus accident which claimed the lives of 14 Rheenendal Primary School children and the driver. The 65-year-old driver, Colin Pyle lost control of the bus on a low bridge causing it to plunge into a dam en route to the school.
Now Rheenendal Primary School’s principal, Sammy Williams said the school managed to get over the accident and the pain.
“We had our prayer meeting earlier this morning and there was no crying and no drama.
“Most of the people around here have managed to forget about the tragedy and put it in the past. It was difficult the first three years when the whole town felt like death and everyone was just sad but over the years we have put it behind us and we continue to support the affected families and the survivors,” he said.
Pyle, 65, the bus driver; Ashwell Davidson, 17, Felicity Fiegeland, 10, and André Fiegeland, 12, Maurisha Fiegeland, 15, Lugan Mello, 8, Lisa Mello, 9, Antonio Mello, 6, Michael Sass, 9, Cheswin Freiburg, 15, Rayleen Wessels, 11, Marco Kiewiets, 11, Jorina Kiewiets, 7, Marushaan Meyer, 13, and Octavia Williams, 14, died.
At the time, authorities believed the driver tried to squeeze in double the capacity of the bus to transport 58 schoolchildren from the Rheenendal Primary School, instead of the stipulated 32 which the bus was certified to carry. August 25 is also the eighth anniversary of the tragic accident which claimed the lives of more schoolchildren when a minibus taxi crashed into a Metrorail train at the infamous Buttskop Road level crossing in Blackheath at about 7.03am.
The driver, Jacob Humphreys, narrowly escaped with his life and was charged with the murders of the 10 and attempted murder of four children. His 20-year prison sentence however was later reduced to eight years.
Humphreys operated a shuttle service for schoolchildren in Eerste River. On the day of the crash, he ignored lowered booms over the Buttskop level crossing, crashing into a train.
The then-56-year-old driver had his licence immediately cancelled and during the court case had the 10 murder counts set aside, replacing them with 10 counts of culpable homicide.
asanda.sokanyile@inl.co.za