‘We are gatvol’

Westbury and Jo’burg mourned the death of ‘little soldier’ Luke Tibbetts on 16 August. And the heavens mourned with them.

The sky was as grey as the hearts of the scores attending the funeral.

“My job was to heal scraped knees and not to stop stray bullets,” three-year old Luke’s mother Candice Tibbetts said in her eulogy at the Perfecting Church International in Longdale.

“My God never failed me. But the justice system and society failed me.”

Luke was caught in the gunfire of a shootout in Westbury on 2 August. He was sitting on his mother’s lap in the backseat of the family car when a bullet allegedly meant for someone else hit him. He was on life support in the Garden City hospital with brain damage until 8 August, when he succumbed.

“Luke loved life and I loved him,” Candice Tibbetts said through her tears.

“I pray that Luke’s death will bring peace to our streets. But what a shame, what an injustice, what a huge responsibility to place on a three-year-old.”

The mourners sang a loud rendition of the national anthem after the South African flag was draped over Luke’s small white coffin.

A number of Gauteng’s leading politicians including premier David Makhura attended the funeral. “Ek is ook gatvol (I am also fed up),” he said.

“We feel we have failed as adults. I feel as if the government should have done something. If we had, maybe Luke would still be here.”

Makhura called for the community to be vigilant against criminals, without resorting to violence and vigilantism. Corrupt police and officials, he said, needed to step down, because children were suffering because of their inaction.

A dance performed by Luke Tibbett’s young classmates at the Hamilton creche in Westbury bought a reprieve to the sad occassion, and many of the gathered mourners managed a smile. A video was broadcast showing Luke dancing – a favourite past-time of his.

Westbury has a bad reputation, family member Bernice Krope told the congregation.“But we are not animals merely because we are from Westbuy. I am not an animal,” she said.

There were a few bad elements that endangered their suburb, she said, but on the whole they were just people trying to live their lives decently.

She pointed out that the family of the accused were also grieving for their son.“Their son might go to prison,” she said.

“They are going through a lot, stop gossiping and pointing fingers. The same boys that were friends at school are now the worst of enemies. But when God comes we are all going to have to answer to him.”

Luke was laid to rest at the Westbury cemetery. Hundreds gathered under the dismally drizzling sky to bid him farewell.

*The man accused of firing the gun that was responsible for ending Luke’s life will be appearing in the Sophiatown magistrates’ court on 29 August, and will be appearing in the Johannesburg High Court on three pending cases of murder on 3 September. His co-accused Keenan Mokwena, whom he was allegedly firing at, and who is being charged for aiming a firearm and attempted murder was denied bail on 18 August. He will be appearing in the Sophiatown District Court on 3 September.