Cape Town - On August 25, 2005 and August 25, 2010, the lives of 15 families changed irrevocably after two tragic accidents claimed the lives of multiple people.
Fourteen years after the Blackheath Train tragedy, Valerie Phillips keeps her 13-year-old son, Jody Phillips' lunch box – filled with bread for school, chocolate and cooldrink – in their freezer, indicative of a moment frozen in time.
School transport driver Jacob Humphreys illegally overtook several cars and drove through a closed boom at Buttskop Level Crossing in Blackheath on the fateful morning, a decision that cost the lives of 10 children as the vehicle collided with a train.
Humphreys was convicted of 10 counts of murder and four of attempted murder. He was sentenced to 20 years in prison in 2011. Later, the Supreme Court of Appeal reduced his sentence to eight years. He was granted parole in 2018.
Liesl Augis, 11, Jody Phillips, 13, Reece Smith, 7, Nolan February, 13, Michaelin de Koker, 11, Jason Pedro, 14, Nadine Marthinissen, 16, Jean-Pierre Willeman, 13, Cody Erasmus, 15, and Jade Adams, 10, died in the crash.
Five years earlier, three schoolchildren – Brent Stander, 13, Shavonne Beck, 12, Angelique Johnson, 12, of Dennegeur Primary School in Strandfontein – were killed in the Kloof Nek Bus accident. The driver, Andre Lemmetjies, was also killed. Parent Yulanda Anne Gombard was left paralysed and 25 other children were wounded.
After a court battle, the court found that the bus, owned by Leandre Transport, had not been roadworthy and the brakes had failed on their return from an excursion of Grade 7 learners to Table Mountain.
This week, the Weekend Argus remembers the victims of both tragedies.
“I am okay but when it comes to this time of the year, August, it’s never a good month. You will never get over it, like birthdays and holidays and even school days when I have to put in lunch for my baby son,” said Phillips.
“It is not always easy but I am a praying woman. Today, I am a stronger woman.
“Jody would have been 28 years old on November 29.
“I also lost my husband, mother and my second son.
“We are new Apostolic and the year of the accident, he was supposed to be confirmed. And a year after the accident, I stayed away from church back then because I could not face seeing others being confirmed.
“There was a time I wanted to go to him in prison, my heart wanted me to, I had to consider my husband and mother because after the accident, their health deteriorated.
“For Humphreys’ parole, Correctional Services contacted me only twice and he never came to us, as family, after he was released.
“I still keep his lunch box in the freezer. In the words of my husband, he said it isn't in anyone’s way.
“I never turned my back on God and I forgave him because how can I call myself a Christian if I don’t?”
Phillips said she was raising her 18-year-old son and was proud of him.
Attempts to reach Humphreys were unsuccessful.
The Weekend Argus also approached Gombard’s family for comment about the commemoration and were told that she had suffered a second blow, medically, and would not be able to speak.
Gombard had been confined to a wheelchair after the accident.
In one of her public posts about the incident, she said the accident had taught her resilience and skills that she never knew she had.
Gombard had accompanied her son on the excursion when tragedy struck.
“In a nutshell, I went out one day, and returned home four months later … in a wheelchair. Yes, indeed, my life was changed irrevocably, in more ways than one. And in ways which nobody could have predicted,” she wrote.
“I discovered aspects of myself and inborn abilities that I was blissfully unaware I possessed – the two main ones being public speaking and a writing ability.
“I experienced inner healing and got healed of many psychological and emotional wounds which I had been carrying around with me – some of these for most of my life.”
Strandfontein ward councillor Elton Jantjies said the crash had shaken residents: “It will never be forgotten. The saying goes ’time will heal’ but I’m of the opinion that only God can heal the wounds, and that is my prayer for all those who lost a loved one in that tragic accident.
“It is my prayer that the good memories of those who are no longer with us be cherished and fondly remembered.”