The Grade 6 learner, Lifalethu Mbasana, 11 trekked for around eight hours from his school to his home in Khayelitsha. Picture: Ayanda Ndamane/ Independent Newspapers
Cape Town - A Simon’s Town Primary School learner who walked 35 kilometres, trekking for around eight hours from his school to his home in Khayelitsha after he was not allowed to board a Golden Arrow Bus Service (Gabs) due to a lost ticket, is on the road to recovery after his gruelling journey.
The Grade 6 learner, Lifalethu Mbasana, 11, and his two siblings aged 10 and seven, take the Gabs bus at around 2.30pm to Makhaza, daily.
But on Monday, after his siblings boarded the bus and it was his turn to present his ticket, he could not find it and was told by the driver to disembark.
When it was obvious that her son did not take a later bus and was not on the last bus home, Xolelwa Siba Mbasana contacted her husband, Gabs and the Simon’s Town police, prompting searches and patrols.
A picture of the missing boy and details of his last known whereabouts were widely shared across social media in the evening.
When people started to contact her, saying they had spotted her son walking in Muizenberg and another saying he was sighted earlier in Strandfontein, it then dawned on her that he was attempting to walk all the way home.
“Immediately when the bus left, my son tried to follow the bus and started to walk home all the way from Simon’s Town to Khayelitsha,” she said.
“He kept on asking people about time because he usually gets home at about 5pm. So when he discovered that it was half past five and he was still in Muizenberg, that’s when he lost it and started to run.”
At around 10.10pm, a group of around 15 people with torches arrived at her gate with Lifalethu in tow, calling her name.
The boy recalled his journey home, how he was spotted and offered a lift in Mitchells Plain and dropped off at an exit. He then continued walking and was accompanied by a stranger from Mitchells Plain to Harare where law enforcement officers recognised the young boy and took him into their care.
“That is something I will never ever forget. Maybe there were other means but he walked all the way from Simon’s Town when his bus left him behind. When he got home, he looked like a crippled little boy. His whole body was sore. His shoulders are still sore. He's limping like an injured young man,” Mbasana said.
The mother has called for the driver’s dismissal.
“That guy that left my son behind, what was he thinking?
“Everybody knows, once a child is declared missing, they end up dead,” Mbasana said.
“We only discover their bodies. So I will never forget this and I don't want any other person to experience this. This should never happen. We were blessed to have our child home and safe but we do not know what will happen tomorrow to another child.”
Gabs public relations manager Bronwen Dyke-Beyer said the driver has been suspended and that Gabs was involved in the search for the learner. Gabs also visited the family on Monday night, she said.
“Golden Arrow can confirm that company policy is to assist uniformed scholars in situations where they have lost their Gold Cards and that the driver who failed to do so has been suspended. We have undertaken to review all mechanisms related to lost scholar tickets to ensure that protocol is followed in such cases,” Dyke-Beyer said.
Western Cape Education Department (WCED) spokesperson Bronagh Hammond said they were saddened to hear the learner had resorted to walking such a long distance.
“Learners in this position should return to the school and seek assistance from one of the staff members.”
Transportation of learners via the department’s learner transport scheme relates to learners living outside of a 5km radius of their nearest school and where no public transport is available, Hammond said.