The New Year got off to a tragic start for a Mitchells Plain family who lost their nine- year-old daughter in a hit-and-run accident on Sunday.
Angry mense from Lost City took to the streets and rioted against a lack of traffic calming measures along Swartklip Road where little Zai Pienaar had been declared dead at the scene.
Her hartseer mother Yolanda, 38, says her friend witnessed the incident which saw the female driver of the car speed off, explaining: “I left home in the afternoon to see a friend of mine and I remember talking to my daughter as I said goodbye.
“I just arrived at my friend’s home after 3pm when I got a call to go home.”
The devastated mom says she was told that Zai was standing on the shoulder of the road speaking to a friend when the motorist allegedly came speeding down the road.
“The person then drove away but other people saw the accident and forced her to come back with the police.
“That is when people stoned her car and set tyres alight because everyone was angry.
“We don’t know all the details but they said the side mirror hit Zai in the ribs and we don’t know what all of her injuries are.
“I could not believe that my child was hit like that and she wasn’t even standing in the road.
“I spoke to the detective and he said the lady [driver] wasn’t gesuip because they made her blaas on the pypie.”
Police spokesperson, Warrant Officer Joseph Swartbooi, confirms the incident and says: “Mitchells Plain police responded to a complaint on and upon their arrival in Swartklip Road in Tafelsig, they found the body of a nine-year-old girl.
“The victim was declared deceased on the scene by the medical personnel.
“According to reports the victim was knocked over by the driver of a motor vehicle, a sober 33-year-old woman.
“Mitchells Plain police registered a case of culpable homicide for further investigation”.
Yolanda says motorists using Swartklip Road have been speeding for years with little regard for the communities living nearby, adding that her own child isn’t the road’s only fatality.
The bereaved mother adds: “I am now the fifth mother to lose a child on this road. The people just drive as they want and have no regard for people living in Lost City or in Khayelitsha.
“My daughter was start- ing Grade 3 at Perseverance Primary School and she was so excited.