Eastern Cape Transport MEC Weziwe Tikana Gxothiwe and the deputy speaker for the Eastern Cape legislature Mlibo Qhobishiyane are among the mourners.

The bus involved in the fatal crash was contracted by the provincial government to service rural routes and was travelling from the coastal village of Chebe carrying people, mostly pensioners, to Butterworth for shopping via Centane town.

According to one of the survivors last week, the bus lost control near a cliff in Qolweni after a mechanical failure.