Pretoria - The shock and pain among parents and community members in Salvokop settlement in Pretoria was palpable yesterday as they recounted the tragic car accident which left three children dead and others critically injured.
Saying they were still in disbelief during a visit to the informal area yesterday, they said they were also frustrated as the driver of a BMW which hit nine pedestrians near a traffic circle on 6th and Koch streets in Salvakop was nowhere to be found after fleeing the scene.
The accident, which happened in the afternoon on Saturday, killed three young girls and injured another six before the sedan crashed into a tree.
The driver was said to have been with his brother and a friend in the car, and they were allegedly drinking as there was alcohol discovered inside the vehicle.
Witnesses said the driver was spinning the car at the roundabout, while playing loud music. He lost control of the car and ran over a nearby group of residents, killing the three children.
Six other people were left in critical condition. A pregnant woman and the mother of twins were injured in the accident.
Munei and Munewa Khomola, 5, and Privilege Parenyi 4, died instantly at the scene.
Annah Sithole, who lost her daughter, Privilege, said she could not comprehend or even accept what had happened. She was there when the accident happened.
She said they were on their way to buy Maotwana (fried chicken feet) at the roundabout when the car came and hit everyone who was there.
“I was carrying my child on my back, holding Parenyi with my hand when the car came speeding towards us. It was moving sideways, and then it started spinning and hitting everyone on the road, and my daughter got hit and died.”
She said the driver came out of the car and tried to run away, but she chased him and managed to catch him, but couldn’t hold on to him as he overpowered her.
“It’s very painful and it was unexpected … our lives will never be the same again. I want justice to be served,” said Sithole.
Although the police have arrested one suspect following the incident, the driver and the other passenger got away.
Tshwane Emergency Services arrived on the scene soon thereafter and took the six injured as well as the bodies of the three children away.
Alfred Tanuvinga, the father of the twins, Munei and Munewa Khomola, was in shock yesterday, and he said he did not know what to do. He did not see a way forward as everything he did was for his little girls. They were all he was living for.
He described the day as a normal Saturday for them as a family when they took a walk with his wife and the girls to visit a friend who lives near the traffic circle.
When they arrived he left them there to see another friend nearby, but as soon as he arrived he received a call asking him to run back because something had happened.
“I didn’t know what was going on so I went back and when I arrived I found my daughters lying in front of the tree dead, and a few metres away was my wife. She was also lying there unconscious … she kept on asking where my children were repeatedly until she lost consciousness.
“The driver of the car ran away before the police arrived at the scene. The most painful thing is losing both of my daughters at the same time, I feel very numb. I couldn’t sleep a wink last night and I don’t know what to do.
“My wife is at the hospital and I hope she recovers as she is in a critical condition. I can’t lose her too. I have lost so much,” he said.
Tanuvinga described his daughters as children who were full of joy, bubbly and playful. “You could never get bored when you were with them,” he said, and even as he spoke he felt their energy, as if they were still alive.
“I had big plans for my baby girls. Now all my plans were shut down in one day, I can’t begin to process what happened, I feel so much pain, I don’t know what to think or do or say … my mind is not working properly.”
He and the others asked for donations as they would start preparing for the funerals, and they said they hoped the City would assist them.
“I want to see those guys face to face. Maybe I will find closure if they can tell me why they did what they did, or maybe meet their families and discuss a way forward. I really have many questions for the driver,” said Tanuvinga.
Tshwane Emergency Services said they had handed the scene and investigations over to the SAPS, and they also asked that the driver hand himself over, or that anyone who knew where he was to idenitfy him.
Pretoria News