ANC deputy president Paul Mashatile posted on Sunday that the party and other congregants of a church in Durban observed a moment of prayer for the families of the nine ANC members who lost their lives in a bus accident.
The accident took place during the early hours of Sunday near Paulpietersburg in northern KwaZulu-Natal. The bus was carrying a group of ANC supporters who were travelling to their homes in Mpumalanga after the ANC manifesto launch in Durban.
Mashatile and other ANC members visited the St Paul Anglican Church in central Durban for the morning service.
In its statement on Sunday, the party expressed shock and sympathy for the families of the deceased.
“The African National Congress has received with profound shock the news of the untimely passing of our members from Mpumalanga province. Tragically, our comrades were involved in a bus accident in Dumbe, KwaZulu-Natal. [The accident happened] in the early hours of the morning. [The group was] returning from the ANC’s highly successful launch of our election manifesto, Mayihlome Rally 2024,” the ANC said.
More than 10 other passengers are reported to have received injuries of varying degrees from the accident. According to the Road Traffic Management Corporation, the bus carrying 70 passengers lost control and was overturned.
Memories of January accident
The KZN accident is the second bus crash affecting the ANC this year. In January, five Limpopo party members travelling to another major rally in Mpumalanga died when their vehicle rolled off the road.
The group was travelling to the January 8 Statement rally, which was held at the Mbombela Stadium on January 13. The accident took place in the early hours of the same day in the Magoebaskloof area, between Polokwane and Tzaneen.
About 47 people were reported injured in the Limpopo accident. The group was travelling from the Molemole sub-region of the party, west of Polokwane.
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