Devastating week in KwaZulu-Natal as families mourn loved ones
Bus driver Brandon Lee Hasthibeer was shot and killed while transporting passengers this week
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Tragedy struck a number of families in KwaZulu-Natal this week, claiming the lives of their loved ones.
A week after Brandon Lee Hasthibeer's baby daughter was born, he was killed in a shooting.
Hasthibeer, 31, a bus driver, was shot in Redcliffe in Verulam on Tuesday night after two suspects boarded the bus.
The conductor and a five-month-pregnant woman were also injured in the shooting.
According to local security company Reaction Unit South Africa the two suspects allegedly produced firearms and randomly opened fire before they fled on foot and did not steal anything.
Hasthibeer's aunt, Kogie Arnajulam, said the family was devastated.
"Brandon was so excited about his baby, but he never got to hold her as she is still in hospital. You always hear of such tragic incidents happening to others and never expect this to happen to your own family.
"Brandon had been driving buses from the age of 18. He was fun-loving and kind-hearted. All his passengers liked him," said Arnajulam.
The father of two from Oaklands was laid to rest yesterday at the Verulam Crematorium.
Dhanalutchmee (Lilly) Perumal died when the bus she was travelling in plunged over a bridge in Tongaat
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On Tuesday morning, minutes after Dhanalutchmee (Lilly) Perumal, Stephen Sannassee and Frank James boarded the bus on their daily bus ride to work from Tongaat, it plummeted off a more than 50 metre bridge in Maidstone.
Perumal, 55, Sannassee, 38 and James from Burbreeze in Tongaat died in the crash, while more than a dozen other passengers were injured.
Siboniso Duma, MEC for Transport and Human Settlements has called for murder charges to be brought against the driver and the bus owners.
Perumal's son, Denzil, said every morning when he returns home from working the night shift he would look out for the bus his mother travelled in, to wave to her.
"On that morning as I was returning I saw a crowd had gathered near the bridge looking over. I went to see it and saw it was the bus my mum travels in.
"I phoned home to check if my mum had left and my sister-in-law said she had already taken the bus. By that time, there were no paramedics on the scene. I ran down and could see some people climbing out the bus. I called for my mum. I entered the bus and saw her lying there. A panel of the bus was covering the upper part of her body. I tried to move it with the help of other people. I checked she had no pulse and was not breathing. I knew it was too late," said Denzil.
He said he still shocked by the incident.
"When I close my eyes I can still picture everything from the crash. Every morning my mother would sit in the same seat near the window so we could see each other. Because by the time I get home she has already left for work," said Denzil.
He said he and his mother worked at Celrose Clothing. She worked as a machinist and he as a night shift supervisor.
Perumal's funeral took place on Friday at the Verulam Crematorium.
Sannassee's brother, Kyle, said Stephen took the bus daily to work in Durban.
Stephen's funeral took place yesterday.