MY EIGHT HOURS OF HELL

Young Lifalethu is still traumatised by his long walk home from school after a bus driver refused to let him on board because he'd lost his ticket

- ALULUTHO GUZANA

HER mornings used to be filled with the lively sounds of children as she prepared breakfast and got them ready for school.

Siba Mbasana’s home was always bustling with activity as her kids, Lifa­ lethu (12), Anele (10) and Buhle (7), prepared for their day.

But the atmosphere has shifted dramatically and Siba now finds herself missing the sound of Lifalethu’s laughter.

The change began when the boy be­ came a topic of national conversation after a Golden Arrow bus driver barred him from boarding his regular bus because he’d lost his ticket.

Left with no other options, he em­ barked on a gruelling eight­hour walk from his school in Simon’s Town back to his home in Khayelitsha – a journey that’s left the nation shocked and out­ raged.

“He’s not been himself lately,” Siba tells YOU, keeping a watchful eye on her son.

“He hasn’t been playing outside with his friends, he’s been cooped up in the house and his usual warmth and chatter have been replaced with an unsettling silence,” she says.

Lifalethu and his siblings had started taking the bus to school just two weeks before the incident. They used to travel with their father, Sipho, a member of the SA Navy who’s stationed at the base in Simon’s Town.

However, since Sipho often has to leave early for work the couple decided it would be a better option for the children to take the bus.

The bus driver involved in the incident has been suspended as Golden Arrow’s policy is that drivers cannot refuse to admit uniformed minors who’ve lost their tickets.

Yet it’s little comfort to the family. Sipho says the incident has had a pro­ found effect on his son.

“As much as we are celebrating that our boy returned home safely, we have to deal with the issue of him being in this state of trauma,” he says. “We’re trying to get him professional help.”