Sol Plaatje Dam bus crash

The Sol Plaatje Dam bus crash was a bus crash that happened on 1 May 2003 in South Africa. a bus drove into the Saulspoort Dam near the town of Bethlehem, South Africa, 51 people were killed.

 Overview 
The bus was taking trade union delegates to May Day celebrations in QwaQwa in the Free State. The bus was going through Bethlehem in the dark and driver became disoriented . the driver went on an unlit gravel path, which led straight onto a jetty into the Saulspoort Dam. The bus was traveling too fast to stop and it drove straight into the water.

Because of the remote location of the accident and the poor safety standards on the bus, only ten people escaped the bus alive. The bus sank quickly, the passengers were stuck underwater inside the bus. Police did not come until the next morning after being told by survivors, The police recovered the bodies of the dead people and they pulled the bus out of the dam.

 Aftermath 
President Thabo Mbeki held a minute's silence for the dead at his May Day speech the next day, and the dead were buried together in a mass funeral at West End (Weseinde) cemetery in Kimberley.

On 1 April 2005, the dam was renamed to the Sol Plaatje Dam.
On 30 November 2003, Leonard Slabbert, who used a boat to rescue the survivors, was awarded the Mendi Decoration for Bravery.

 References 

 Other websites 
 SMH News Report
 News Report on Aftermath

Category:21st century in South Africa
Category:2000s in Africa
Category:2003 disasters
Category:Transport disasters in Africa