Cape Town - What was to be a day filled with fun and laughter ended up traumatising a group of seniors and carers visiting Robben Island.
The group of 35 were excited for the day ahead after planning for the trip since December 2021.
The group, which included 22 seniors between the ages of 60 and 89, arrived on Robben Island on Wednesday morning, however, the excitement soon faded after they were left pained, bruised and bandaged.
Group leader and chairperson of the Gatesville neighbourhood watch Fowzia Veerasamy said everyone was looking forward to the trip.
“We were all excited. The seniors all said they used to work hard for their families now they had the opportunity to be tourists of their city.
“The money gathered for the trip was collected over a period of time.
“Seniors paid R250 a ticket and the adults paid R400.
“We also had two babies under the age of two,” she told IOL.
She said they boarded the ferry to the historical venue and once on land, they requested wheelchairs for those who could not walk long distances.
The group soon got onto a bus to start their long awaited journey.
“We were rushed onto the bus. There were three buses and as team leader I made sure everyone from our group was accounted for on the bus.
“The bus has two doors, one for entrance and the other that has a ramp for wheelchairs and prams which we made use of,” Veerasamy explained.
However, things soon turned chaotic.
“The bus was already idling and the driver did not check the door. He got in, wrote down something and continued on his phone.
“He pulled away at speed and one of the seniors told me she hoped he drove well, as he was already at speed,” she said.
Veerasamy said there were loud screams as people shouted for the driver to stop, as the doors were still open.
The driver is alleged to have ignored the screams and continued on his journey.
“As he continued driving the door ripped off. People got injured. The bus had no safety (belts).
“One of our seniors, 75-years-old, her skin was ripped off, her nail lifted, she has blue marks in her face and knee injury.
“Because of her injuries there was blood everywhere.
“The babies slid from the mothers’ laps, people were laying on the floor.
“It looked like a war zone. It was a chaotic scene.
“People seated in the front of the bus had neck injuries the way the bus jerked. I sustained injuries to my neck and head and had severe headaches,” Veersamy said.
She said when the bus came to a standstill, Robben Island staff were more concerned about taking pictures of the bus door than the safety of the passengers.
Veerasamy said she screamed for paramedics and in no time, paramedics were on scene to assist everyone.
“The 75-year-old woman went into shock, her blood pressure was sky high. People were shaking like leaves. A tourist, who was also on the bus with us, also sustained injuries as she fell face down, dress up and her feet became swollen immediately.
“People were visibly traumatised, they were shaking like leaves.
“I urged the medics to check the entire group and not just those who had visible injuries.
“One of the other seniors just had a neck surgery a few months ago, and now she has new injuries,” Veerasamy said.
Apart from this tragedy, the group then had to walk to the first cells, which was quite a distance.
According to Veerasamy, no one from the Robben Island management came to see if they were fine.
She said the tour went ahead.
“The tour was rushed. The guide, who mostly spoke about himself and even got the dates and things wrong (he couldn’t fool the seniors, they went through this time (apartheid) in their lives.
“He even asked for a tip and when I asked if he was crazy, he told me he doesn’t care, he was giving us a service.
“In the middle of our ‘tour’ someone from Robben Island came to ask who was injured.
“I asked to speak to someone in management and he said the person was in a meeting.
“On the second bus, two seniors fell from their seats, the seats were broken.
“No one ate. To be honest, everyone was too traumatised to enjoy anything,” Veerasamy said.
She said the Robben Island safety manager pitched up after a while, but it was in vain as they were only concerned about those who had visible injuries (blood spatter) and only willing to refund six people.
Veerasamy received calls on Thursday morning from the group, many who were in excruciating pain and headed to the doctor, while others were so traumatised, they had nightmares.
“It was the most horrible experience ever. The only pleasant thing about that tour was probably just the boat trip and the friendly paramedics.
“Staff even branded us as the first accident on the island. They also made us feel guilty.
“I feel so bad for the group because everyone was so excited and the experience was an absolute nightmare,” Veerasamy added.
IOL contacted Robben Island for comment and Melany Kühn said: “Robben Island Museum is aware of the incident and is currently investigating the matter”.
robin.francke@inl.co.za
IOL