An 11-year-old learner who walked 35 kilometres, trekking for around eight hours from Simon’s Town Primary School to his home in Khayelitsha after he was not allowed to board a Golden Arrow Bus Service (GABS) due to a lost ticket, is recovering after his gruelling and dangerous journey.
Grade 6 learner, Lifalethu Mbasana and his two siblings aged 10 and seven take the bus at around 2.30pm to Makhaza daily.
But on Monday, after his siblings boarded the bus , Lifalethu could not find his ticket and was told by the driver to disembark.
When her son did not make it home, mom Xolelwa Siba Mbasana contacted her husband, GABS and the Simon’s Town Police, prompting a search and patrols.
A picture of the boy and details of his last known whereabouts were widely shared across social media that evening.
“Immediately when the bus left, my son tried to follow the bus and started to walk home all the way from Simon’s Town to Khayelitsha,” she said.
“He kept on asking people about time because he usually gets home at about 5pm.
“So when he discovered that it was 5.30pm and he was still in Muizenberg, that’s when he lost it and started to run.
“And when he got tired, he started dragging his bag.”
At around 10.10pm, a group of around 15 people with torches arrived at her gate, calling her name.
The exhausted boy explained how he was offered a lift in Mitchells Plain and dropped off at an exit.
He continued walking and was accompanied by a stranger from Mitchells Plain to Harare where law enforcement officers recognised the him and took him into their care.
“That is something I will never ever forget. When he got home, he looked like a crippled young little boy. His whole body was sore. His shoulders are still sore. He's limping like an injured young man,” the mom said.
She is now calling for the driver’s dismissal.
“Who doesn’t know the kind of world we live in? That guy that left my son behind, what was he thinking? Everybody knows, once a child is declared missing, they end up dead.
“So I will never forget this and I don’t want any other person to experience this. We were blessed to have our child home and safe but we do not know what will happen tomorrow to another child.”
GABS public relations manager Bronwen Dyke-Beyer said the driver has been suspended and the bus company visited the family on Monday night.
“Golden Arrow can confirm that company policy is to assist uniformed scholars in situations where they have lost their Gold Cards and that the driver who failed to do so has been suspended. We have undertaken to review all mechanisms related to lost scholar tickets to ensure that protocol is followed in such cases,” she said.
Western Cape Education Department spokesperson Bronagh Hammond said they were saddened to hear the learner had resorted to walking such a long distance.
“Learners in this position should return to the school and seek assistance from one of the staff members.”
Transportation of learners via the department’s learner transport scheme relates to learners living outside of a 5km radius of their nearest school and where no public transport is available, Hammond said.
shakirah.thebus@inl.co.za