By Jonk wa Mashamba
news@alexreporter.co.za
A Pretoria couple has not managed to move on since their son died this year.
Aletta Bengtson and her husband are still mourning the death of their son who was run over by a Tshwane Rapid Transit (TRT) bus on February 23 this year.
Aletta told Mashamba Media that her son was waiting for a bus to work when he was run over by bus.
“Our son was at the Steve Biko Hospital for 7 days in the ICU. His right side of his brain was dead. His arm, leg, pelvis and 3 rips were broken.
“On 28 February, our son was declared brain dead. It was a TRT that killed him, “said Aletta.
She said there were about 16 cameras in both bus stations where the crash occurred but all of them were not working.
“So we have to warn people on the street that they are not safe at any bus station or on any TRT bus in Pretoria.
“We lost our son and we miss him so much.
We feel that the TRT must pay for what happened to our son. Because, they have to keep better control of their drivers who are driving in a school zone.
“We feel that people who are using TRT buses and bus stations must know that if anything happens to them at those stations or or buses , there is no cameras.”
She said it would be very difficult for the police to know what happened to the victims.
The driver of TRT bus who allegedly killed their son was charged with speeding, reckless driving, skipping a robot and murder.
“The police told us that up to date our son’s case is not in court but waiting for a date.
“But they also told us that there is a backlog of murder cases in Gauteng of 2 to 5 years.
“The TRT is ignoring our lawyers. We feel that they must pay and also take responsibility for this. They should have kept the driver in control and kept cameras in a working condition, so that it can talk for the person on the street.
” 80% of the cameras are not working at all and that makes the work of the police much more difficult to do,” she fumes.
The devastated woman said she wanted people on the street to know that they were not safe on the TRT buses and bus stations.
“We don’t want them to take someone else’s life again and they cannot just forget about this at all; they have to be kept responsible for this.
“We will never have the chance of having grand children because of this.
“But I have to say that our son is a very big HERO. He always wanted to help others.
She said the family has “donated his liver, kidneys, skin and other body parts to three young fathers to assist their kids.
“But we never thought he would help people in this way.
“His bonemaro went to the USA where it helps a young person who has bone marrow cancer,” said the mother whose daughter (28) is in New Zealand with her sister- in-law.”
She said her family was very grateful for the great treatment their son Christopher received from Steve Biko Hospital when in ICU.
“They kept us informed about our son every 2 hours and we are very grateful for that,” she said.
Christopher was a South African Scouts leader.