A five-year-old Lavender Hill boy has been hailed a hero after he died saving his younger boetie from a hail of bullets.
Little Valentino Grootetjie was killed on Saturday afternoon just metres from his kitchen door by gangsters.
Police say a 22-year-old man, a suspected mert, was shot and seriously injured in the same incident and is currently in hospital.
Valentino’s aunt, Chrystal Joseph, 27, agonisingly recalled his last moments on Sunday.
She says at about 2.40pm, “a known gangster” came into their yard to speak to a woman who had come to visit the family.
BLOODY: Valentino died a hero when he took a bullet for his younger brother.
“She did not go out when he kept calling her, so this guy decided to come speak to her in here.
“As he was about to leave, three guys came in, but only two were shooting at him,” Chrystal says.
She says everyone ran into the main house as shots rang out, not realising that Valentino and his two-year-old brother were still inside their Wendy house.
“We were unaware the boys were still in the Wendy house. Then he shouted: ‘ mammie’. And she shouted back: ‘Tino’.
“When we wanted to get them, the shooting started again and I stopped my mother and his mother from going out.
“His little brother came running in. He cannot really speak. We asked him where Boeta was and he showed: ‘ daar’.
“Valentino saved his brother by pushing him aside. He was shot once in his head. He died on the scene,” Chrystal says crying.
Valentino’s shocked parents, Patrick Kotze, 34, and Romana Grootetjie, 33, says they still cannot believe their eldest son is dead.
SHOCKED: Patrick Kotze, 34, Romana Grootetjie, 33
“Valentino was a loving child. He was so excited to start Grade R next year at Levana Primary,” Patrick says bursting into tears.
“He would play with his friends and brag that he would be joining them next year.”
The couple also has a one-month-old baby boy and Romana says Tino was her little helper.
“He helped me so much with everything when it came to the baby,” she cries.
“When Patrick had trouble making the baby quiet, Valentino would step up and start singing to him and he would fall asleep peacefully.
“He loved his two brothers so much and would do any and everything for them,” the inconsolable mom sobs.
INNOCENT: Valentino Grootetjie, 5, shot dead. Picture supplied
Police spokesperson, Brigadier Novela Potelwa, says no arrests have been made yet.
“Anti-Gang Unit detectives and Steenberg police are pursuing specific leads following an incident where a five-year-old boy was shot dead in Drury Court, Lavender Hill, on Saturday afternoon,” says Potelwa.
“It is alleged that a 22-year-old was also shot and seriously wounded in the same incident.
“He was transported to a hospital where he remains in a critical condition."
