The driver of a bus in which 12 people died - among them three children - and 34 were injured in KwaZulu-Natal on Sunday was caught seven times over the legal alcohol limit last year, it has emerged.
Transport, community safety and liaison MEC Bheki Cele said he was "very disappointed" that the bus company, SA Roadlink, had allowed him behind a steering wheel again.
The 34-year-old driver had been charged with culpable homicide and reckless driving, he said in a statement, making no comment about allegations that he was speeding at the time of the crash.
Cele said three unroadworthy SA Roadlink buses had been suspended in the three hours he was on the accident scene.
These included the wreck itself; and a bus stopped in Pietermaritzburg and another inspected at Midway while en route to collect uninjured passengers at the accident scene.
"We will be sending out the road traffic Inspectorate to this bus company depot to inspect all their buses," he said.
Cele visited some of the injured in hospital.
Many had to be extricated from the wreckage by rescue workers. They were taken to the Northdale, Greys and St Anne's Hospitals.
Screaming hysterically
"I saw two dead bodies - an elderly man and a boy flying out of the bus," said passenger Nomthandazo Thusi, who had been on her way home to Durban with her daughters Nonjabulo, 8, and Siyanda, 3, after job-hunting in Johannesburg.
"Everyone was screaming hysterically as dead bodies hit the ground and fell on the pavement and ground."
She had been watching an onboard movie at the time of the crash.
Earlier, she told another passenger she thought the driver was in the wrong lane because she could hear the vehicle's tyres hitting the cats eyes.
Superintendent Joshua Gwala said the driver of the double-decker bus lost control of the vehicle and it overturned, slamming into pillars under a bridge on the N3 south at 05:00.
Roof crushed
"The bus was badly smashed. The whole roof was crushed when it hit the pillars," he said.
The upper-deck on the right-hand-side took most of the impact, said Netcare 911 spokesperson Mark Stokoe.
Both south and north-bound carriageways were initially closed to traffic, but had since been reopened.
SA Roadlink sales and marketing manager Lee Sarugaser said: "I personally assisted in boarding the passengers of that bus last night. You know how I feel."
Speaking before Cele made his statement, Sarugaser said initial indications were that an airbag on the vehicle's suspension had burst, causing it to swerve uncontrollably to the right and hit a barrier.
Extra vehicle
He said the bus had been an extra vehicle on the 3100 route to Durban. Instead of leaving from Pretoria, it had left from Johannesburg with 66 passengers on board.
"With people going home for Christmas they take more luggage, so the loading takes longer," he explained.
Sarugaser said the bus driver took over the wheel after a stop at Balmoral, in the Free State, and was not likely to have been fatigued.
The bus had made one more stop, at Harrismith, for passengers to get refreshments.
- SAPA
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