15 members of the Ntlatseng family, who were killed in a horrific car crash following a head-on collision in the North West, South Africa, have been laid to rest. 

The deceased were among 19 relatives killed in the crash on the R34 road between Bloemhof and Schweizer Reneke, while traveling from Ipelegeng on Saturday, February 26, 2022. Two females and a child survived the accident.

The deceased include a mother, her children, and grandchildren, the driver of their vehicle, as well as his friend.

The mass funeral service was held on Saturday, March 5, 2022, at the Ipelegeng Multipurpose Centre in Scheweizer Reneke in North West. 

The centre was filled to capacity by members of the community who came to pay their last respect to the deceased.

Learners from local schools, in their school uniform, could not hold their tears during the funeral service. 

The North West Department of Transport Spokesperson, Boitshoko Moremi says those admitted in hospital are in a critical condition.

“The 19 deceased were part of 22 occupants in a vehicle were three people survived with serious injuries and are now admitted at a local hospital with critical conditions. The MEC for the Department of Community Safety and Transport Management Sello Lehari has sent his heartfelt condolences to the bereaved. He further pleaded vigilance to road users requesting that extra caution be practiced on the road,” said Moremi. 

Meanwhile, the family has pleaded with law enforcement officials to investigate the leaking of a gruesome video of the accident scene. 

The family says that the grieving period has been difficult especially after watching the leaked video of the scene which left them traumatized. 

“We were very much disturbed about the video that was shared on social media. We were disturbed about pictures that we saw, people do not have mercy, we were expecting them to come and uplift our spirits and comfort us,” the family spokesperson Motse Ntlatseng says. 

“They did not do that, they shared the video, the children are traumatized now at home, instead of healing we keep on bleeding. We urge our South Africans that in future if something of this magnitude happen they must never and we grieve differently and this must not happen again.”

The provincial government, led by Premier Bushy Maape, assisted the family with the burial.

North West MEC for Social Development, Boitumelo Moiloa, has also echoed the call for an investigation into how this happened.

“As the provincial government, we are going to investigate who leaked that, because of the manner in which it is said. They’re saying the police were the only people, who were at the scene of the accident. So we are going to investigate as government because we can’t continue to do that.”

Three members of the family, who survived the accident, are recovering in hospital. The fourth survivor, the driver of a truck that collided with the family’s minibus escaped unharmed.

Police are investigating a case of culpable homicide.