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The all-female group of soldiers and civilians working for the military were in a good mood, taking selfies against the beautiful backdrop as they drove up the winding road of the Maluti mountains near Clarens in the Free State.
Over a week later, terrifying screams still reverberate in Georgina Khoare’s mind. Flashbacks of being in a bus rolling down the mountainside with passengers tossed in all directions and bodies knocking against each other haunt her every time she tries to sleep.
Khoare sobs while recounting the morning in which 11 of her colleagues died on August 19.
She remembers the fading voice of an injured soldier pleading for help as she lay on the ground before taking her last breath.
“She was lying in a small mud puddle with her eyes kind of rolling, struggling to keep them open, and she murmured: ‘Georgina, please help.’ I tried to lift her up, but there was nothing much I could do,” said Khoare (52), a waitress at De Brug military base in Bloemfontein.
This week Khoare attended the funeral of her friend and colleague Maria Jacobs (57). They lived in the same neighbourhood.
“We belonged to the same grocery stokvel and we travelled in the same bus to work every day. It won’t be the same without all of these people, really,” she said.
On Friday she sat on her bed at her house in Bloemside, her right foot covered in bandages. She was discharged from hospital last Sunday.
She was one of 42 women on a military bus travelling from Bloemfontein to Basotho Cultural Village for a Women’s Month event.
“Everyone was in a happy mood, especially because it was an all-female group on an outing ... then I realised the driver was struggling to keep the bus on the road,” Khoare said.
After the bus stopped rolling, landing on its wheels, the driver’s assistant climbed out of the window and pushed the door open.
Only then did she realise how many dead there were. Nine women were certified dead on the scene while two others died later in hospital.
She said the deaths of her colleagues, most of whom were still young women starting their careers in the army, was a huge blow.
“I had been chatting to Dorcas Molibeli (25) about church and life in general when the accident happened. She was a chef and I worked closely with her daily,” she said.
“All these young women were like our own children and just like many other young soldiers I have worked with in the past 29 years, they saw me as their mother. I knew them very well as I served them food everyday. I can’t imagine how it is going to be, returning to work knowing that they’re gone.”
