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Police probe deadly scholar transport accident in Vanderbjilpark

todayJanuary 19, 2026 52

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Police in Gauteng are investigating cases of culpable homicide after a scholar transport crash claimed the lives of at least 13 learners in Vanderbjilpark on Monday.

Two other learners remain in a critical condition in hospital, while the driver is also receiving medical treatment.

Preliminary reports indicate that the scholar transport driver attempted to overtake several vehicles on the Golden Highway before colliding head-on with a truck.

Gauteng police spokesperson, Mavela Masondo, says more charges will likely be added as investigations continue.

This tragedy has once again thrust scholar transport safety into the spotlight, highlighting the deadly consequences of reckless driving.

Basic Education Minister, Siviwe Gwarube, has extended her condolences to the grieving families.

“It is always such a tragedy when we lose our learners, particularly in scholar transport tragedies.

“We are consistently in talks with the Department of Transport to make sure that vehicles are roadworthy, in particular, but a lot of these incidents are not necessarily due to the roadworthiness or not of the vehicle, but they’re really about driver error on the road.”

Gwarube says efforts will continue to ensure those entrusted with transporting learners do so responsibly.

Meanwhile founder of NGO Wheel Well, Peggie Mars, says there is an urgent need to have a national school transport policy.

“We need to set standards, put rules and regulations in place that school transport must meet and then that must be enforced and all the stakeholders must be involved, not just government, local, provincial and national, but also school governing bodies, parents, everybody affected needs to have their say, and we need to address this with absolute urgency.”

Mars also stressed the importance of monitoring how learners travel to school, particulary those who walk.

“I mean amongst the devastating floods that has happened in Mpumalanga, Limpopo and the northern KwaZulu Natal, in that floods children walk to school.”

The South African National Taxi Council (SANTACO) in Gauteng has called for learner safety to be treated as a non-negotiable priority following a deadly scholar transport crash in Vanderbijlpark.

SANTACO Gauteng Secretary, Graham Fritz, has urged scholar transport operators and parents to work together to ensure that vehicles transporting learners are roadworthy.

Some social media users say the tragedy is devastating and are calling for stronger measures to protect learners on the roads.

 

Written by: Lindiwe Mpanza

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