Passengers injured in the bus accident that claimed three lives more than a month ago have lashed out at Golden Arrow Bus Services (Gabs) for not reaching out to them.
The bus flipped on Jakes Gerwel Drive on September 25.
Marlize van Rooi, Amy Carelse and Yarick Damons died in the accident.
The bus left Mitchells Plain’s town centre for Century City on a rainy Monday morning. When it landed on its side, people were flung out.
Asheeqah Jacobs was injured on her way to work at Century City.
Her uncle, Shieraj Lakay, said: “My niece had operations. Her arm was injured, her face was swollen, and she had internal bleeding.
“She is a fighter. The doctors said she would be in hospital for six months but she came home even though she can’t walk properly.”
Lakay said Jacobs has not been able to work and she was booked off for two months only.
“Now I don’t know what Golden Arrow is thinking, because they have not been to see any of the survivors.
“My niece may lose her job if she is not healed by the end of the month and who is going to give her the salary she lost? We also paid a lot of money to travel to the hospital, and who is going to see that we are reimbursed?
“We just want the bus company to come to us and we can hear what they have to say about this accident that left people dead or injured. It is more than a month later and no one has come to see us.”
Another victim, Letiticia wrote on Facebook: “Dear Jacobs, Golden Arrow, since you guys did not bother finding out about our well-being I thought I’ll update you.
“We have been in pain ever since 25/09/2023. We are afraid of any mode of transportation. We make constant visits to hospitals, clinics, specialists, doctor’s appointments more than ever.
“Golden Arrow the bus for us – is your slogan, but why is that not the case now? Where is your humanity and compassion for the passengers that you lost that day? The passengers whose second home is the hospital at this point? Not a sorry, not a call, not a text, not an email, not a public service announcement. Why is that? Why have we not heard from you?”
Golden Arrow Bus Services spokesperson Bronwen Dyke-Beyer said they had tried to contact the families of the injured passengers.
“Golden Arrow has attempted to contact passengers who were on board the bus through various channels. On the day of the accident there were multiple Gabs officials on the scene, but all passengers had already been taken to various hospitals.
“We sent officials to these hospitals to try to get passenger details, but we were not provided with any information on the grounds that it would be a violation of the Protection of Personal Information Act. We attempted to get details from the SAPS and they were also unable to provide any details.
“We were able to visit the homes of the three deceased passengers to personally share our condolences and meet with the passengers’ families. We also made contact with a passenger who had been on board the bus and was part of a WhatsApp group created for passengers.
“We shared the details of our claims department with her and how to get in contact with us so that this could be shared with the group.”
She said the area manager also left his contact details with her so that contact could be made with any other passengers who hadn’t been reached.
“Twelve people have made contact with us and we have initiated the process of providing them with the necessary Road Accident Fund (RAF) forms. As per the RAF Act, passengers must follow the RAF claims process.
“We’ve been informed that many passengers have been advised not to speak with us or to fill in these forms and, in those cases, we are unable to engage based on the choice of the passengers.
“Any passengers who would still like to make contact can reach out to claims@gabs.co.za.”
Dyke-Beyer said the investigation was ongoing, and the bus driver remained suspended.