The 22-year-old scholar transport driver arrested in connection with the deaths of a group of school children in the horror Vanderbijlpark accident is now facing fourteen counts of culpable homicide and reckless and negligent driving after two more learners died in hospital, police said.
Police spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Mavela Masondo confirmed the two learners died in the early hours of Thursday, 22 January 2026.
“The suspect is expected to appear before the Vanderbijlpark Magistrate’s Court this morning.”
The Sedibeng community has been in mourning after the 14 young children tragically died in the head-on scholar transport crash with a truck on the R553 Golden Highway in Vanderbijlpark on Monday.
Arrest
Police arrested the scholar transport driver who was involved in an accident on Monday.
He was arrested after he was discharged from the hospital.
Officials confirmed that the driver arrested in the accident held a professional driving permit (PDP) that expired last year.
Masondo previously said the driver of the truck involved in the crash escaped unharmed, while the truck’s passenger sustained injuries and recieved treatment in hospital.
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Lenasia blitz
Meanwhile, Transport Minister Barbara Creecy says authorities have impounded more than 60 scholar vehicles carrying more children than they were allowed to, including illegal transport vehicles and those without public driving permits (PDPs). One scholar driver has also reportedly been arrested.
Creecy is conducting a blitz inspection of scholar transport in Lenasia.
During the blitz, The Citizen discovered an overloaded Suzuki Ertiga with 14 scholars. The vehicle is only licensed to carry 7 passengers.
A bus, which was licensed to carry 60 learners, was also overloaded with 98 learners and was stopped during the operation.
On Wednesday, Creecy and her deputy, Mkhuleko Hlengwa, said that the lack of law enforcement operations on scholar transport has brought the country’s scholar transport service to its knees.
The minister’s spokesperson, Collen Msibi, said Creecy and Hlengwa instructed traffic law enforcement agencies, including the RTMC National Traffic Police, to intensify their operations, with a specific focus on scholar transport nationwide.
ALSO READ: One killed in Ekurhuleni crash involving two heavy-duty trucks
