A mass funeral has started for the victims of a bus crash in Centane in the Eastern Cape last week.

On Friday a massive marquee was erected at Cebe JSS for 26 of the people who died in the accident.

While Eastern Cape police said 26 people were being buried, the transport ministry last week placed the death toll at 29. It was unclear whether the other three had been given private burials.

On Friday, the coffins of the 26 were lined up in the centre of the marquee. Some coffins had wreaths and pictures of the deceased placed on top of them.

Last week, following the tragedy, some of the families called for government to assist with the burials of their loved ones, saying they could not afford to conduct the services themselves.

The bus plunged down a steep ravine last Monday morning. It was carrying mostly pensioners and pupils.

Transport minister Fikile Mbalula said it was believed the bus driver had lost control of the vehicle.

Former EFF general secretary Godrich Gardee has criticised the ‘exorbitant’ state medical aid scheme MPs are forced to join.
Image: Sebabatso Mosamo/Sunday Times
Former EFF MP and now full-time candidate attorney Godrich Gardee on Thursday opened up about challenges faced by SA’s MPs, particularly on salaries and mandatory “expensive” medical aid.

Gardee said MPs, including judges, are required to join the state medical aid even if they’re already covered by other schemes. He said he would rather take land, farm livestock and medicinal cannabis than fork out the exorbitant monthly contribution.to the National Assembly’s sub-committee opposing the state medical aid, Parmed, and calling for the amendment of the Parmed Act on the grounds that it was unaffordable and infringed their constitutional rights to associate with a medical aid scheme of their choice.

The committee was tasked with investigating the parliamentary and provincial medical aid scheme act which makes it compulsory for members of the National Assembly to be under Parmed.

Gardee lamented the lack of support from members of the opposition parties.

Mbuyiseni Ndlozi says the South Africans being repatriated from China on Friday pose no threat to locals.
Image: Brian Witbooi/The Herald
EFF MP Mbuyiseni Ndlozi has urged South Africans not to oppose the repatriation of 122 South Africans from the coronavirus epicentre, Wuhan, China, saying they pose no threat to locals.

The former EFF spokesperson said the Chinese government would have ensured they received treatment if they did contract the deadly Covid-19.His tweet followed a statement by the ANC Youth League in Limpopo, which threatened to protest against the government’s decision to isolate the group at a Limpopo resort, after negotiations for them to temporarily be quarantined at a venue in the Free State fell flat.

The league said it was worried that the group would spread the virus in the province. This despite health minister Zweli Mkhize assuring South Africans that they were not sick.

The league said: “For example, if one of the employees were to contract the virus, they would transmit it to the multitudes of people that they interact with in the public transport, their homes and other places where black people socialise.”

The University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN) said everything necessary would be done to bring the perpetrators to book after yet another building was torched on Wednesday evening at its Edgewood campus.

“My, and my management’s resolve, is undiminished in the face of this appalling provocation. The actions of the perpetrators can never be justified against the ideals of this university,” said vice-chancellor Professor Nana Poku.

“Premier Sihle Zikalala has offered to assist us with a specialist forensic team and additional police and investigative resources to root out the parasitic criminal elements within our midst,” he said, adding that the university was more determined to end criminality on campus.management and student leadership in a bid to restore normality to the university”.

“There had been no disruptions or protests in recent weeks; and the protest that we had, though highly hyperbolic and destructive, was mercifully short-lived (a little over a week of the academic programme was lost).”

However, he said the violence that continued was not random.

“There remain factions within the university determined to turn the clock back – to make corrupt practices, parasitic behaviour and mired systems work for individuals and groups at the expense of UKZN’s mission.”

Poku said they took this as a sign of attack.

“We recognise that this cowardly attack on the infrastructure of the university is intended to intimidate us – to make us lose our resolve and to deflect us from initiating sweeping reforms to ensure the institution’s sustainability, and heighten its national and international standing.”He added: “Craven cowardice will continue to be met with forthright honesty and renewed determination to serve all members of the UKZN community.”

The university has seen a surge of violence since last month, with protesters burning property on Westville and Pietermaritzburg campuses.

They have also burnt their mattresses and fridges, and blocked roads leading in an out of the university.

The University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN) has removed 2 000 “professional students”, those who have taken more than eight years to complete three-year degrees.

This is part of the university leadership’s bid to root out the “destructive culture of those who want to drain the university’s resources with impunity”, the institution said in a statement on Thursday.

UKZN warned protesting students that they would be dealt with, as yet more buildings on the university were torched on Wednesday night. This time, it was at the Edgewood campus. This follows buildings torched at the Westville and Pietermaritzburg campuses in February.

The university said those “professional students” were not paying fees and was “routinely holding the institution to ransom through unrest for personal concessions”.Management said the torching of the buildings at Edgewood took place after weeks of “careful and honest negotiations” between management and the student leadership.

Students and management have been deadlocked for various reasons, in particular the university’s policy that students must pay some historic debt before registering. The university, however, said the number of students who would actually need to pay large amounts of debt was low.

The university’s Vice-Chancellor, Professor Nana Poku, condemned the violence.
Poku said on Thursday: “We recognise that this cowardly attack on the infrastructure of the university is intended to intimidate us – to make us lose our resolve and to deflect us from initiating sweeping reforms that will ensure the institution’s sustainability, and heighten its national and international standing.”

“We will continue the vital work of ensuring that the life of the university, the safety of our students and staff, and the quality of the work we do together continues to go from strength to strength.

“Craven cowardice will continue to be met with forthright honesty and renewed determination to serve all members of the UKZN community,” Poku said.

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