A Hanover Park mom is heartbroken after losing her second child to gang violence in just three months, after her teenage daughter was shot and killed on Friday.
The mother of Zarah Jackson, 15, says the family was left traumatised as they watched her nine-year-old brother Tyler lie over her, pleading with her to fight for her life.
She had been shot in the neck while walking to a winkel. Police have arrested two suspects.
Mom Magdalene, 51, says the Grade 9 learner from Crystal High School left home after 8am on Friday after asking for money.
“I was still in bed and she came to me to ask for a R1. I reached over to my bag and gave her a R2 and dozed off and that is when we heard the shots,” Magdalene recalled.
“The neighbours ran to me screaming that Zarah was shot and as I tried to open the gate, I remembered she said she was locking the gate and would be back shortly.
“I threw all the drawers out looking for the spare key and when I got in Rywood Walk, I found her brother Tyler lying over her.
“She was shot in the neck and we rushed her to Heideveld Emergency Centre, but she was flou the whole way there.
“She was taken in and not long after we heard she did not make it,” the hartseer ma added.
Police spokesperson Wesley Twigg says Philippi police are investigating.
“According to reports, the victim was caught in the crossfire when rival gangs were shooting at each other. She was taken to a medical facility for medical treatment where she was declared deceased due to the injury sustained to her neck,” he says.
Two suspects, both 23 years old, were arrested and will appear in the Athlone Magistrate’s Court today on a charge of murder, he added.
Magdalene says Zarah’s death came a week before her 16th birthday, which she would have celebrated with her boetie Tyler on October 14.
“Their birthdays are on the same day and each year we host a party for them together. This year we will be burying Zarah instead of celebrating her birthday,” the mom said.
Describing her daughter as a friendly and outgoing teen, Magdalene says Zarah was deeply troubled by the social ills affecting the youth and planned on becoming a social worker.
“She always said she wants to be a social worker to make life better for the children of Hanover Park. Now she will never get that chance. As a mother, I feel stukkend,” she explained .
“Last year her older brother, Renaldo, who was never a gangster, was shot and paralysed by a stray bullet.
“He lived for a year with a bullet inside his body and later he got very sick and died in hospital. They told us it was poisoning caused by the bullet.
“He died three months ago and now I have lost another child to the senseless gang violence.”