Funeral preparations are underway for 15 passengers in the Eastern Cape who lost their lives in a fatal crash between a minibus taxi and a heavy-duty truck on Sunday night.
Thembelani Ndyalivane said his family lost six members in the accident on the N9 near Middelburg when the truck's trailer overturned and fell onto the taxi.
Nontombi Sigagayi, Thuliswa Ndyalivane, Nwabisa Mbukula-Rwexana, Khangelani Mbukula, Nkosinathi Mbukula and Nomsa Ndyalivane were aged between 34 and 53.
Ndyalivane said that combined, the deceased have left behind about 15 children if not more.
A mother to two of the deceased, Nomkhulu Mbukula, an elderly woman in Mount Fletcher, was taken to hospital after falling ill of health upon hearing of the deaths of six of their loved ones.
The 15 passengers were travelling to Cape Town after attending a funeral in Tsolo.
Nine women and four men lost their lives, including two children aged one and two.
Deputy Minister of Transport, Lisa Mangcu, accompanied by Road Accident Fund and Inxuba Yethemba Local Municipality visited the families and the fatal crash scene on Friday morning.
