Ayanda Dludla was the driver of the minibus that was involved an an accident and led to the death of 14 children.
The image will remain etched in our minds for many years.
A young mother, dressed in a red dress, slicing through the crowd in a desperate bid to identify her child, one of 11 killed on the scene of the Vanderbijlpark scholar transport tragedy.
Wailing inconsolably, she is held back by members of the public. Eventually, she sits on the ground, defeated, torn, emotionally and physically depleted.
Pain hangs cruelly on her face, her legs weak and wobbly, the wreckage of what was the minibus taxi that was supposed to take her child to school lying a few metres away.
She has become the face of the agony experienced by parents who lost their children in the tragedy.
What started as a routine ride to school ended in a tragedy when 14 young lives were snuffed in the senseless crash.
Three later died in hospital. Eighteen children were packed in a minibus meant for 14.
When the Gauteng department of education released their names on Thursday, their innocent, young faces told a story.
One of tragedy. Of shattered dreams. Of stolen young lives.
Beyond their faces, they have names: Busisiwe Radebe, Bokamoso Bokgobo, Sibongile Madonsela, Leano Moiloa, Lesego Sefatsa, Letlotlo Katlego Makwe, Ofentse Jayden Vinger, Lindokuhle Mabaso, Pheello Motaung, Puleng Maphalla, Naledi Motsapi and Bohlale Lekekela.
The names of the two who died in hospital on Thursday night had not been released when we went to print.
The children were from seven schools around the Vaal area, south of Johannesburg.
Authorities say 22-year-old driver’s public transport licence expired in November last year. Witness accounts and video footage show Ayanda Dludla driving recklessly before the head-on collision with a truck.
He is charged with murder, attempted murder, driving without a valid permit and driving an unlicensed vehicle.
At a vigil for the lost souls on Thursday, tears flowed, just like they did at the scene of the horror crash. The tragedy has united us as a nation.
Beyond this, after we lay the children to rest, we must unite to rid our country of road hogs and reckless, drunk drivers whom law enforcement has failed to rein in.
While the law must take its course, there is little or no consolation for the families who lost their children in this way — young, promising lives wiped out in an accident that was avoidable.
We hope the families will find closure and justice will be done.
More than anything else, we hope there are lessons for drivers, especially those ferrying children to school. They must exercise extreme caution when they carry the precious young lives.
The children needn’t have died. We send our deepest condolences to their families.