Tragedy struck the Eldorado Park community on the evening of Saturday, May 18, when a 16-year-old girl lost her life due to a hit and run on the Main Road in Extension Three around 6:30 pm.
Residents came out in numbers to be a part of a candle lighting ceremony that was held on Thursday, May 23, in hopes to show support to the family.
Ansly Brown, a community activist, who was present at the accident scene and candle lighting ceremony said that when he arrived at the accident scene, he noticed that the Emergency Management Services (EMS) officials were under extreme duress, which ultimately led to the death of the deceased.
“EMS officials arrived on the scene close to an hour later and that angered the community. Upon arrival, these officials had to fend off residents who were swearing at them, fighting with them and pulling at their hands, thus further delaying the officials from working on the patient,” said Brown.
“I assisted the paramedics that were on the scene and had to stop residents from breaking into and vandalising the EMS vehicles.
“The little girl eventually died as we were loading her into the van,” he added.
Brown said that situations like these need to be addressed within communities.
“We all agree that there is a lack of basic services within communities but, we, as residents, need to acknowledge the role we play in letting those services become less and less and that is my cry with the community.
“We fight about these services but at the same time we are the ones actively destroying our access to these services,” said Brown.
A few weeks ago, Joburg Water (JW) officials refused to work in the Greater Eldorado Park community because many of them no longer felt safe.
On different occasions, JW vehicles were vandalised and officials were robbed of their personal belongings.
Ward councillor Fazel Jaffer said in a comment that even though JW officials have started working in the community again, he urges residents to allow officials from various departments to do their work and to rather assist them instead of causing harm.
Residents lit their candles and prayed on the Main Road where the little girl lost her life. Candles were left to burn throughout the night.
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