Two Nyanga families say they are very lucky to be alive after a bus crashed into their homes.
Mahlubandile Matshaya, 52, says he was busy on the roof of his Lusaka shack off Klipfontein Road on Friday morning when, suddenly, he looked behind him and saw a Golden Arrow bus speeding towards him.
He adds that his wife and two grandsons were inside as the vehicle flattened their home, which has since been rebuilt.
“I was fixing the roof, facing away from the road, and when I looked back I saw the bus.
“It was at high speed, I was very shocked to see that happening, it was like a dream. I jumped down [from the roof] and ran away and then remembered my family,” the frazzled ou says.
“I then ran back to the shack and when I got there, the driver was still in the bus with his colleagues. I couldn’t see my wife and grandsons.”
Mahlubandile tells the Daily Voice that his family was buried under the rubble but thankfully still alive.
“I told the driver to reverse and then I got them under the iron sheets. Luckily they were not injured,” he explains.
“I asked the driver what happened and he said that he got distracted by another car.”
Neighbour Sipelo Sonjani, 28, says his one-year-old daughter, Enzokuhle, was also found buried under the iron sheets of their home. She was unhurt.
“My wife’s hand was injured but my child is fine, there is nothing wrong with her. We are just happy to be alive, it could have been worse,” he adds.
Mahlubandile says they have been living in Lusaka for more than 20 years and would love to be relocated.
“This is the second time that a bus drives into people’s shacks. And this is making us want to move because being here is dangerous.”
GABS spokesperson Bronwen Dyke-Beyer adds: “We can confirm an incident which occurred on Friday in which a third-party vehicle swerving, allegedly to avoid a pothole, caused our bus driver to collide with informally-built homes [shacks] in the process.
‘The driver was suspended immediately pending an investigation. The driver, an adult living in one of the homes and a young child were treated for minor injuries. The repair and replacement process for the damaged property was initiated on Friday.”