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Parents of the 14 children who were killed in the Rheenendal bus tragedy will be expecting answers as the inquest into the crash is scheduled to resume in the Knysna Magistrates Court on Wednesday.
During the last sitting in July the grieving families' legal representatives indicated that they will call African Express bus company owner Pravin Singh to take the stand after expert witnesses testified that there were major issues with the brakes, suspension, steering, clutch and structure of the bus and that these were all contributing factors to the accident.
The crash claimed the lives of 14 Rheenedal Primary School children as well as the driver Tiaan Colin Payle, 65, when the African Express Tata school bus plunged into the Kasadrift River 20km outside Knysna on August 24, 2011.
Parents said on Tuesday that they expect Singh to explain to them why there were so many issues with the bus. They also hope that these answers will bring them some closure.
"Although we will always miss our children and nothing will ever bring them back, we hope that those responsible for the tragedy be held accountable," said Cornelius Davidson who lost his son Ashwell in crash.
In July Martin Graham - a service engineer who tested the bus after it was pulled from the Kasatdrift River - testified that the bus was a "disaster waiting to happen" due to a gross lack of maintenance.
Martin, who has more than 40 years experience in the field and has extensive knowledge on Tata vehicles, said he had never seen such a component failure rate, in relation to the kilometres the vehicle had done, in his life - an indication he added of a serious lack of maintenance.
Martin, who also had a look at the rest of the African Express fleet, also said that this was not a isolated case and that buses also showed signs of lack of maintenance.
There are also questions around the validity of the roadworthy certificate which was issued on April 14 before the accident. Martin testified that judging by the extent of the wear on some of the components, including the brakes, these issues would in "all likelihood" have been present at the time of the test.
Johan Nel on behalf of the bus company however said that if one accepted the roadworthy test which was done just a few months before the accident and that the vehicle had been serviced correctly, the owner would only know about any problems with the vehicle if it had been reported to him by the driver. This he said had not been done.
Davidson, who spoke on behalf of the parents, said Singh received payment from the Education Department to transport their children to school and knew children's lives were in his hands.
The affected parents might however have to wait longer for answers as there is speculation that the various parties' legal teams could argue a possible postponement on Wednesday. The parents' legal representative Norman Arendse is currently in Dubai dealing with another matter and therefore want the matter postponed. His instructing attorney Jerald Andrews said on Tuesday Arendse was essential to a "case of this magnitude", as he was needed for cross-examination of any witnesses brought by African Express.
"Everyone is in agreement with the postponement, including the state. The only ones opposing it are African Express, which is strange because when the inquest was scheduled to begin in January African Express asked for a postponement because they were not ready," he said.
Dirk Coetsee , for the bus company, confirmed that his client would oppose a postponement.
"But if the magistrate agrees to the postponement, we will abide by his decision."
