A 10-year-old boy from Delft died tragically after a metal wheel at a local play park fell on top of him.
Now his family is blaming the City of Cape Town for the incident, saying they were made aware that the hamster wheel structure was loose but did nothing to secure it.
Little Kayden Marco was playing in a park near his Roosendal home on Saturday when he was crushed by the heavy metal frame.
His hartseer aunt Doreen Esau, 37, tells the Daily Voice: “Neighbours came to call us to say Kayden got hurt at the park and was lying on the ground.
“When we got there, he was bleeding from his eye, ear and head.
“He was responsive and managed to move out from under the heavy iron object.
“After numerous calls for an ambulance, he was taken to the Delft Day Hospital where he died after an hour due to brain damage.
“They were going to take him for X-rays but then he was declared brain dead.”
Doreen says Kayden loved playing soccer and wanted to be a professional footballer one day.
“He was so young, a whole life ahead of him, it's sad that he will never have the chance to go for his dreams,” she says.
Kayden’s mother was too traumatised to speak.
The Daily Voice was also shown a broken ladder in a nearby park, and Doreen says they have reported this to the city.
Lifting the structure from the ground, Doreen says: “Here you can see we have another broken object which is very dangerous.
“This is a City park, we have also told the ward councillor about the broken things.
“On Wednesday here was a council man to paint the park where Kayden died and we told him about it. He just looked at it.
“We hope Kayden’s death will be a wake-up call to the City of Cape Town to take notice of our reports about these broken parks.
“This is supposed to be a safe space for kids to play.”
Delft family blames City for child’s death. Video: Venecia Valtentine
She says they now have to worry about laying the little boy to rest.
“We aren’t able to bury this child because I am the breadwinner in my family. His parents are unemployed and my parents are pensioners.”
City Mayco member for Community Services and Health, Zahid Badroodien, says an investigation into the circumstances around the incident is underway.
“The councillor (Michelle Adonis) has visited the family to pay her respects.
“The department will conduct an investigation into the circumstances surrounding this incident.”
Anyone who would like to contribute to the funeral can contact Doreen on 074 847 0713.
venecia.america@inl.co.za