Boy, 4, killed by ’speeding car’

A Bonteheuwel family watched in horror as a car hit and dragged their four-year-old child on Saturday.

Shamiel de Cock was crossing the street in front of his Bonteheuwel Avenue home around 8pm when a motorist allegedly speeding knocked him over.

His tiny body was dragged for nearly 10 metres before the car came to a stop.

The child was declared dead at the scene.

According to his family, he wanted to cross the road to go to his friend who lives on the other side.

Dad Fadiel Vermeulen, 46, could not contain his tears while speaking to the Daily Voice on Sunday.

“I had just arrived from work and while sitting upstairs, I heard my nephew scream that someone just knocked my son. It was no longer than a minute and I was told my child is dead,” he says.

The father of six says little Shamiel was his baby.

The boy’s aunt Fazlen Vermeulen says relatives who were outside when the horrible incident happened screamed at the boy to stop him from crossing the road.

“He was first almost hit by a bakkie and I think he was still in shock when the car came.

"Shamiel was standing in the road when the VW Jetta came speeding and it knocked him.

“The way that car was damaged after the incident it looked like it hit a pole, yet it knocked over a small person. The driver was driving with his father.

“Fadiel is not taking this well, he was so close with his son and he liked playing with him.”

The family says the man, in his early 20s, was driving his father’s grey VW Jetta and has “a history of bad driving”.

“His father owns a fleet of cars,” explains Fadiel.

“You know when it is him driving because he is always speeding.

“He must be charged with manslaughter because he killed my son.

“If he was not speeding, he would have managed to stop instantly. This is not the freeway, why does he not go to the N2 if he wants to speed?”

Fadiel says although the driver’s father was present, he did not show remorse or even apologise.

“The guy’s mother also arrived. They saw us crying for my son, but they did not even bother speaking to us,” he says.

SAPS’ FC van Wyk says: “Bishop Lavis Police are investigating a culpable homicide case following an incident where a four-year-old boy was knocked over by a motor vehicle in Bonteheuwel Avenue on Saturday, at around 8.10pm. No arrest as yet, investigations continue.”

The Daily Voice went to the home of the car driver, but no-one was in.

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