Bus monitor saved friend’s life

When a bus monitor saw the school bag of her six-year-old neighbour float past her, she grabbed onto it.

But when she lifted it out of the water, she inadvertently saved the little girl as well.

Because, attached to the backpack was Charmeldra Phambani, who immediately took a big gulp of air.

It is no wonder that their bond remains strong to this day.

As Tuesday marked the 10-year anniversary of the horror bus crash in Rheenendal outside Knysna, Andrea Sass, 23, recalled how among the chaos of screaming children, instinct had prodded her to latch onto the backpack.

They then watched as pupils’ bodies were pulled out of the river, anxiously waiting to be rescued.

While Sass and  Charmeldra were neighbours at the time, they have since become more like sisters.

Sass said she still had nightmares where she could clearly see the faces of the pupils who had died.

As she tells the story, tears trickle down Charmeldra’s face.

Only six years old at the time, the little girl used to sit on Sass’s lap on the bus. 

Sass said that the bus driver Colin Pyle, 65, who also died in the accident, had become very fond of her over the years.

That day, he had been his usual jovial self. 

“We drove past the [Portland Market] shop and stopped at Octavia’s house as he had missed her on the way down. 

“He had told me the previous day that the bus's brakes were a bit [problematic]. 

“We stopped to pick up Octavia [Williams].”

The bus went backwards and sped off the road

Sass said children were screaming helplessly and the older children tried to take charge. 

“I held her [Charmeldra] and said everything was going to be fine until I looked to the side and we were going to the river and the next thing I heard was ‘boof’.”

The bus had plunged into the river and the next thing Sass saw was water all around her.

“There was only space enough to breathe near the roof and when I looked around I could not find Charmeldra. 

“There was this one guy who was helping us.

“He grabbed me by the jacket and told me to get out or I would not make it out alive.

“I said ‘no, leave me, there is someone left behind’.

“I saw her bag drift past me and grabbed it, and I saw her head coming up and her eyes were wide open.”

She thought Charmeldra had died. 

“I called out ‘Charmeldra, Charmeldra’ and she gasped for air and started crying to my relief. 

“The most heartbreaking moment was when parents of those who lost their children came to ask us ‘where is my child, where is my child?’.”

Holding back tears, Sass said she was too young for that. 

“I was small that time, I did not know what to say. I just looked at them with tears in my eyes,” she said. 

A tearful Charmeldra said she had lost three of her best friends that day.

“It haunts me every day. The nightmares are still there,” she said. 

“I lost three of my best friends at the same time and I was very young,” she said. 

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