Pupil dragged by car for a cellphone

A Roosevelt High School pupil (14) was robbed and dragged while half of his body hung outside a moving car on 15 January.

The pupil (Bongani Sibisi) had been standing on the corner of Beyers Naudé Drive and John Adams Drive when a man approached him.

“We were standing at the bus stop and Bongani was on his phone. A man came and tried to grab Bongani’s phone but he held on to the man and his phone tightly,” said Bongani’s friend and eye witness Tebogo Masanabo.

According to Masanabo, within a blink of an eye, a white Toyota Corolla approached them and the man dragged Bongani towards the car.

“The man quickly got into the car and the driver took off. The man who approached us was now holding onto Bongani. They drove for about 70 metres with half of Bongani’s body in the car and the other outside,” he retold.

According to Masanabo, the man grabbed the phone and let Bongani go while the car was still moving. Bongani fell with his head, hitting the ground hard.

“Everything happened so fast, I didn’t know what to do,” added a seemingly petrified Masanabo.

Motorists saw Bongani on the ground surrounded by high school pupils and stopped to help the seemingly unconscious pupil.

Bongani’s mother Nosipho Sibisi said she was praying for her son’s recovery.

“I can’t believe people can do such a thing to a child. My heart is very sore… seeing him lying on a hospital bed so helpless. He is so confused and does not even know where he is or what happened. Nosipho was also recently robbed by men in a white car in Northcliff.

Bongani is being examined for head injuries at Helen Joseph Hospital.

Ward 87 councillor Amanda Forsythe was called to help with ensuring the ambulance and police arrive to the scene quickly.

“I want to thank Danyle Nunes of the Melville Sector Forum, who is a paramedic himself, for assisting me in mobilising the Roosevelt Park Fire Station and ER24,” she said.

She also thanked Parkview Police for responding quickly to her calls for help.