Twelve learners have died following a tragic private scholar transport accident that occurred on Monday morning in Vanderbijlpark in the south of Johannesburg.
The deaths were confirmed by the Gauteng education department, which has issued preliminary reports suggesting that the pupils lost their lives at the scene of the incident.
Four more learners suffered critical injuries and are receiving medical treatment at the hospital.
The accident scene remains active, as emergency services continue to comb through it. Authorities promised to release further verified details as more information becomes available.
Matome Chiloane, the MEC for education in Gauteng, visited the crash scene and received a briefing from emergency services members.
Call to prioritise learner safety
The deaths come as there has been a high number of crashes involving scholar transport in recent months.
Thulasizwe Thomo, the Mpumalanga MEC for public works, roads, and transport, issued a blunt warning to scholar transport operators earlier this month to put learner safety first as schools reopened.
Thomo urged all operators to ensure their vehicles are fully roadworthy and compliant with all legal requirements before transporting learners.
His warning landed heavily in a province still haunted by the July 2024 tragedy outside Middelburg, where six learners were killed when a scholar transport bus collided with a goods train at a level crossing near Wonderfontein.
Last July, 20 learners were hurt when a scholar transport ferrying them from three Johannesburg schools overturned on West Park Road close to West Park Cemetery.
The Gauteng education department had at the time confirmed that the vehicle was transporting learners from Greenside High School, Parktown Girls’ High School, and Roosevelt High School.
Preliminary reports indicated that the driver was allegedly speeding when he lost control of the vehicle, causing it to overturn at a bend.
The crash injured several other pupils, prompting provincial and national calls for tighter safety controls due to the accident’s negligence.
Siblings die in horrific crash
Most recently, on September 11, 2025, a minibus taxi lost control and crashed into Senzokuhle Crèche and Pre-School in Imbali Unit 18, Pietermaritzburg, KwaZulu-Natal, claiming the lives of five children aged between nine and 11 and leaving several others injured.
The next day, another scholar transport vehicle was involved in a crash along the same road. All children survived the second incident.
Earlier in March 2025, four pupils, including siblings, were killed in a scholar transport accident in Daveyton, east of Johannesburg. — Additional reporting by Tshwarelo eseng Mogakane
