Soshanguve residents north of Pretoria say the crime level in South Africa is forcing most families to live in fear even in their own homes. They expressed shock after a five-year-old boy was fatally wounded when his father’s bakkie was hijacked outside their home on Friday night.
It is alleged that Junior Phalane had gone out to welcome his father when he arrived home.
Police say a group of armed men fired shots wounding the boy in the process.
He died later in hospital. A distraught neighbour says her daughter has lost a friend and someone she played with most of the time.
“Junior was like a son to me. He was playing with my daughter even yesterday she was asking what’s happening. Because on TV they say someone shot Junior. I tried to hide it. Even in the morning, I took her somewhere but even she’s still asking. She don’t know what’s happening. We do not know what to say to her. It’s so painful.”
#JusticeForDitebogoJr pic.twitter.com/7UTWlXkOa5
— Gift Makoti (@Gift_Makoti_) May 11, 2024
Soshanguve family distraught after 5-year-old boy shot dead in botched hijacking:
