A Grade 11 pupil at Meyerton High School in Vereeniging died after he was run over by a bus while he was trying to board it on Tuesday.
Gauteng Education MEC Panyaza Lesufi said that according to the information the department received, the incident occurred at around 7.05am when learners were boarding the department’s pupil transport bus to school.
“It is reported that the learner was fatally trampled by the bus as he was trying to board it,” Lesufi said.
The department has since sent its psychosocial team to the school to provide trauma counselling to all those who were affected by the incident.
The incident was under investigation, the department said.
Lesufi added that the department had since learnt that in the wake of the Meyerton High boy’s death, pupil transport disruptions had begun in Sedibeng on Wednesday.
The department said it was alleged that buses that transported pupils were not being allowed to operate in De Deur, Meyerton, Sharpeville, Rusoord and Panfontein.
Reports alleged that some members of community were stoning buses and intimidating drivers.
“We send our deepest condolences to the family of the learner (who died). We also condemn the ongoing scholar transport disruptions in Sedibeng which are also impacting negatively on the education of our learners. We call upon members of the community to allow our learners to use scholar transport accordingly,” said Lesufi.
kailene.pillay@inl.co.za
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