According to the school, the eight-year-old second grader, Bongani Swakamisa, was hit while crossing the road on his way home to the nearby informal settlement, on Wednesday afternoon, July 22.
So far the school management has sketchy information about how the accident happened.
It is still unclear whether speeding was a factor and if the driver of the vehicle stopped and cooperated with investigators.
It is also unclear if he was arrested or charged with the killing.
Wit Deep Road is a very busy road in the afternoons and mornings, with speeding motorists who make it difficult for the little ones to cross to and from the school.
It doesn’t have any crossings in the vicinity of the school for the children to use safely.
The school management and community leaders from the nearby informal settlements have, for years, tried to have zebra crossings installed on both Wit Deep and Main Reef roads, with no success.
Bongani is the third child to be killed by a car while crossing the streets around the same school, since 2012.
Many other children were also previously struck by vehicles while walking across the roads, but survived the accidents.
The number of road accidents involving pedestrians, including school children in peak-hour traffic in the area has raised questions among residents about whether authorities are taking road safety for granted.
“We have, for the past couple of years, been asking the municipality to install crosswalks and speed bumps and to implement other traffic calming measures, but our efforts have produced nothing,’ said Balmoral College’s Sonti Meso.
Meso added that the incident has left staff and children, as well as concerned parents, with heavy hearts.
“Everyone, from the students to the staff, is upset – we feel snubbed by our authorities because they haven’t bothered to do something to prevent these killings; it’s not nice and we don’t know what to do now,” she added.
Community leaders told the school that they are at the end of their tether, and vowed to march to the Ekurhuleni Metro offices to demand that officials take suitable action to make sure nothing like this ever happens again.
“We will support the planned march and do whatever it takes to ensure the safety of our children,” stated the angry Meso. -@FanieFLK
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