On Wednesday, 24 June Kuyasa Special School excitedly geared up to attend the Intellectually Impaired Games for the Eastern Cape in Tsolo, just north of Mthatha. The team consisted of twenty three children and five staff members.
On Wednesday, 24 June Kuyasa Special School excitedly geared up to attend the Intellectually Impaired Games for the Eastern Cape in Tsolo, just north of Mthatha. The team consisted of twenty three children and five staff members. Two school buses were needed to transport the team and as one of the Kuyasa buses was still undergoing repairs, so Alexandria School kindly lent them one of theirs.
Due to bad weather the entire country was experiencing that week the drive to Tsolo took around nine hours. At around 8pm the Kuyasa team were the last to arrive and parked their Toyota Hi-Ace Siyaya buses in what was supposed to be a secure area. At around 3:30am on Thursday morning principal of the school, Jill Rothman, who had remained behind in Grahamstown, received a call informing her that both buses had been stolen.
Due to the games taking place additional security guards had been employed to patrol the area. One of the security guards was held at gun point during his patrol and was forced to help the thieves steal the buses. He was later released unharmed.
Rothman commented that at the time her main concern was for the pupils who were now stranded. No one was able to assist them in Tsolo and by Saturday the pupils were becoming extremely anxious as their tournament was coming to an end. Rothman finally managed to get the help she needed from JC Shuttle transport service who operates in Grahamstown. Kuyasa’s bus, initially under repair, was now available. JC Shuttle supplied two drivers and a second bus and , wasting no more time they left for Tsolo at 2am on the Sunday morning.
Rothman is still waiting for information from the authorities as to any possible leads or suspects. Her main concern now is finding alternative transport for her pupils when schools re-open as around 80 pupils from Kuyasa Special School will be in need of transport.
