A viral image showing smiling schoolchildren in uniform, alongside white doves, crosses and the words “RIP”, was widely shared online as the young victims of the Vaal taxi crash. But the Gauteng education department said it was a cruel hoax and that the picture had been digitally manipulated using artificial intelligence. Spokesperson Steve Mabona said it was completely “unnecessary” for anyone to create fake images of dead schoolchildren.
“How must families feel when pictures of children who are not theirs are shared, and people pretend to grieve with them?” Mabona said on Tuesday, a day after the driver — who was ferrying pupils to school — allegedly tried to overtake about four vehicles before crashing head-on into an oncoming truck. He is facing12 counts of culpable homicide, as well as reckless and negligent driving 12 counts of culpable homicide, as well as reckless and negligent driving Three of the pupils who died attended Hoërskool Vanderbijlpark. One pupil each was from Vaal High, Oakwood Primary, Vaal Triangle Primary, Oliver Lodge Primary and Noordhoek Primary, while four pupils were learners at El Shaddai, an independent school.
