Mitchells Plain Police are investigating after an elderly man in a wheelchair was knocked down and killed, allegedly by an underage driver.
William George Williams was on his way home from church on Sunday afternoon, when he was knocked in Katdoring Street, Eastridge.
His daughter Grace Berry, 55, says she received the dreaded call around noon.
The hartseer vrou says: “Someone called and said he took the phone from my father’s pocket. He first called my brother’s phone as his number was in the last dialled list.
“When I saw my father calling I thought, he called for good news and then the man on the other end told me that there was an accident. I asked how he was and he couldn’t answer.”
She says when she got to the scene he was unresponsive.
Grace explains: “He was breathing funny and his head was on the pavement. I lifted up the sheet and saw that his face was bruised and that blood was coming out of his ears.
“I asked where the driver of the car was. The law enforcement officer went to catch him. There was a white bakkie that was pulling a green bakkie and the minor was behind the wheel. I was told that he was arrested by the police on Sunday.”
She says the impact was so bad that her dad was flung out of the wheelchair.
Grace adds: “While I was on the scene, a woman told me that the he flew out of his wheelchair and fell on the pavement.
“It was really sad to see him in that position, he was our rock, my mom died two years ago and yesterday was the second anniversary and he was taken from us on Sunday.”
She says her father’s legs were amputated due to gangrene, but adds that her dad was fiercely independent and preferred rolling to church himself instead of making use of the church transport.
Grace shares: “He had gangrene but he was strong. He was an independent man, a very good person and a church leader at the United Independent Church of South Africa.”
Police spokesperson Captain FC van Wyk confirms a case of culpable homicide has been registered but says no arrests have been made yet.
He reports: “Circumstances surrounding this incident are under investigation. Investigation continues.”
mandilakhe.tshwete@inl.co.za