A learner from Simon’s Town Primary School embarked on a 35-kilometre walk, taking approximately eight hours from his school to his home in Khayelitsha, after being denied boarding a Golden Arrow Bus Service (Gabs) due to a lost ticket. The Grade 6 pupil, Lifalethu Mbasana, aged 11, is recovering after his arduous journey.
Lifalethu, along with his siblings aged 10 and seven, typically takes the Gabs bus at around 2.30 pm to Makhaza each day. However, on Monday, when his siblings boarded and it was his turn to show his ticket, he couldn’t find it and was instructed by the driver to get off the bus.
When it became clear that her son hadn’t taken a later bus and wasn’t on the last bus home, Xolelwa Siba Mbasana contacted her husband, Gabs, and the Simon’s Town police, which initiated searches and patrols.
A photo of the missing boy and details of his last known location were widely circulated on 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.
She added that when people began to report sightings of her son walking in Muizenberg and earlier in Strandfontein, she realized he was attempting to walk home.
“He kept on asking people about time because he usually gets home at about 5 pm. So when he discovered that it was half past five and he was still in Muizenberg, that’s when he lost it and started to run.”
At around 10.10 pm, a group of about 15 people with torches arrived at her gate with Lifalethu, calling out her name. The boy recounted how he was spotted and given a lift in Mitchells Plain, then dropped off at an exit, after which he continued walking and was accompanied by a stranger from Mitchells Plain to Harare, where law enforcement officers recognized him and took him into their care.
“That is something I will never ever forget. Maybe there were other means but he walked all the way from Simon’s Town when his bus left him behind. When he got home, he looked like a crippled little boy. His whole body was sore. His shoulders are still sore. He’s limping like an injured young man,”
Mbasana said.
The mother has demanded the driver’s dismissal.
“That guy that left my son behind, what was he thinking? Everybody knows, once a child is declared missing, they end up dead,” Mbasana said.
“We only discover their bodies. So I will never forget this and I don’t want any other person to experience this. This should never happen. We were blessed to have our child home and safe but we do not know what will happen tomorrow to another child.”
Bronwen Dyke-Beyer, Gabs public relations manager, confirmed that the driver has been suspended and that Gabs participated in the search for the learner. Gabs also 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,”
Dyke-Beyer said.
Bronagh Hammond, spokesperson for the Western Cape Education Department (WCED), expressed sorrow over the incident.
“Learners in this position should return to the school and seek assistance from one of the staff members.”
Hammond explained that the department’s learner transport scheme is for those living more than 5 km from their nearest school and where no public transport is available.
