Pretoria mother beat 'speeding motorist' after car struck her child

A mother has described how she found her child dead in Salvokop, Pretoria, after a car ploughed into a group of people on Saturday.

Hawkers were selling chickens on a street corner in the small community when they spotted a BMW that was allegedly speeding.

Anna Sithole, 29, who sells live chickens, said she was with her four-year-old daughter Privilege and her eight-month-old baby.

She told TimesLIVE she warned her fellow hawkers about the car which had allegedly been speeding around Salvokop since Friday.

Seeing the car, Sithole said she stood up with her baby in her arms, but was unaware that Privilege was standing behind her.

“I was looking at that car. I moved a bit to the right and the car went past me and hit my child,” she said.

Sithole said she was screaming and when she spotted the driver she hit him.

“I grabbed him and I beat this guy. He kept saying ‘leave me, leave me’. I left him and I looked for my child while crying.”

Sithole found her daughter face down under a tree. The car driver had fled. 

Privilege and two other children — twin girls — were killed. At least eight other people were injured. 

Tshwane emergency services said they arrived at the scene to find injured people scattered around and the car under a partially collapsed tree.

“Two female patients, of which one is nine months pregnant, were transported to Steve Biko Academic Hospital with moderate to serious injuries. Four other female patients were also transported to hospital with minor to moderate injuries,” spokesperson Charles Mabaso said.

One of the hospitalised women is the mother of the dead twins. She was discharged from hospital on Monday.

A wooden cross has been attached to the tree trunk where Privilege and the other two children died. The words “rest in peace” were etched on the cross.

Police are searching for the driver who is still on the run, said spokesperson Lt-Col Mavela Masondo.

“Police have opened a case of culpable homicide, reckless and negligent driving and defeating the ends of justice.”

It is alleged that the driver was not the owner of the vehicle. According to community leader Frans Molokomme, it is believed to be his brother’s car.

“The affected families are poor and make a living by selling [goods] in the streets. This is heartbreaking and has left the community in pain and anger because no one is held responsible” he said.

Sithole said her daughter was intelligent and helpful.

Their landlord, Margory Sefolo, a pensioner, said she had known Privilege since she was a baby.

“She loved helping me. She would go to the shops for me to get painkillers or offer to help me wash dishes and clean. I don’t like to think about what happened,” she said.

TimesLIVE