Accident victims laid to rest in Kgari
Lesedi Mkhutshwa | Tuesday September 20, 2016 17:19
The victims, mother, daughter and son perished hours apart in different places on September 9 and 10 respectively and other victims were hospitalised at the Nyangabgwe Referral Hospital. The horrific accidents started with a fatal accident where Uyapo Balisi Tapson (35) met his tragic death in Gaborone, when the trailer of a truck loaded with sand collapsed and buried his Golf GTI underneath.
The accident occurred near the Fairgrounds Filling Station on September 9. In another accident, Tapson’s mother Maria English (65) and sister Kedibonye Motibedi (40) were involved in a horrific car accident along the A1 road in Tsamaya village heading to Kgari, their home village.
It is reported that both English and Motibedi were travelling in a Nissan van from Chadibe to Kgari village for Tapson’s funeral arrangement.
The duo died on the spot and other passengers being Tapson’s brother, nephew and a friend were rushed to Nyangabgwe Referral Hospital have with serious injuries.
Speakers at the funeral were not pleased with how Batswana misuse social media especially Facebook. Themba James, a relative of the deceased, cautioned mourners over the misuse of social media stating that some people have the tendency of taking and posting sensitive pictures of accidents on Facebook, WhatsApp and others. “This behaviour causes concern. I am pleading with the authorities to look into this matter. Imagine if you are to learn about the accident that involved your relative on Facebook; this kind of behaviour is not acceptable and needs immediate attention,” he said.
James went on to plead with mourners to obey the road signs when travelling back to their respective places so that they can arrive home safely.
Another speaker, Lydia Tapson shared the same sentiments with James stating her displeasure over the use of social media especially Facebook. Lydia pleaded with the general public to refrain from taking pictures whenever there is an accident and upload those photos on Facebook or any form of social media.
She critisised as irresponsible Facebook pages such as Fight Crime saying people often use them to discredit others and post pictures about horrific car accidents.
Lydia also raised a concern over some local newspapers that have the tendency of reporting about accidents without facts or to have interviewed the family.
“Recently one of the local newspapers published an article stating that our nephew who was also involved in an accident lost his life at the hospital. Our nephew is still alive. Journalists should have confirmed this with us before publishing the article; this is not okay, we are not happy at all,” she said. Josiel English could not go into detail but revealed that the fatal accidents came as a surprise and was not in a state to say anything to mourners.
One of Kedibone’s friends described her as a loving, caring friend and wished her and other deceased family members’ souls to rest in peace.
The driver of a Nissan van, Kombani Stanford, a friend to one of the deceased who was still hospitalised during the funeral, wrote a message to the deceased.
The message read: “I am deeply hurt that I did not make it to your burials because I am still recovering at the hospital.” The Member of Parliament for Tati West Biggie Butale gave the mourners a word of encouragement.
He said the incident that occurred is due to the works of the Lord. Butale encouraged the mourners to forget about the incident for it is well with their souls and the deceased’s souls to rest in peace. He said they should forget about the horrific accidents by being strong and united. He urged them not to question the situation for it will destroy them.
For his part the minister of infrastructure, science and technology, Nonofo Molefhi emphasised the concerns that were raised on the abuse of technology especially the social media.
He said they will have to enforce cyber law so that culprits who engage in such wrongful acts are brought to justice. Maria was a farmer and leaves behind her husband Tapson English with three children and 12 grandchildren. Uyapo was a production manager at Foamex warehouse and he leaves behind his fiance and three children.
Kedibonye was an employee of Everest Milling in Francistown and was married to Stanley Motibedi, and leaves behind a husband and three children.