Johannesburg - A 13-year-old driver and his 15-year-old passenger escaped injury when their car smashed into an electricity meter box before hitting a wall in Randburg.
The boy and his cousin were allegedly going to a nearby garage at 11.45pm on Saturday in Fontainebleau to buy sweets when the accident happened.
The meter box was flattened, leaving live electricity wires exposed. The business next door was plunged into darkness for three days.
The car went on to smash into another wall, and it was only when it hit a tree that it came to a halt.
The unscathed teenagers were allegedly seen fleeing from the scene, accompanied by an adult woman.
While the people whose businesses were affected are counting the costs of the consequences of the midnight joyride, metro police officials who arrived at the scene are alleged to have given the boy a R1 250 fine for driving without a licence, which was reduced to R625.
“We now have a total breach of security and have to pay more to have the security company doing extra patrols. We are totally exposed,” said Mary Webster the owner of the business whose wall was smashed into.
GROUNDED FOR LIFE
At the time of the crash, the boy was visiting his uncle, the car’s owner. It is not known how he managed to get hold of the car because his uncle asked The Star to call him back. He did not answer his phone or return text messages sent to him.
The father said his son did not know how to drive. He has not been told how he got hold of the car. “My son is grounded for the rest of his life.”
Webster’s house is adjacent to her business, APT Print, and she was asleep when she heard a bang. She was not aware of what had happened until Roy Lampert, the owner of a business next door - Jondine Enterprises - woke her the next morning and told her.
They went to the townhouse complex nearby and saw the damaged car “with bricks everywhere” and also confronted the boy’s uncle. When she saw the driver, she was shocked at how small he was. She also saw the reduced fine.
“The uncle just said: ‘Sorry for the inconvenience.’ As if that will pay for my wall. When I spoke to the teenagers, they were on their phones and giggling, saying they were on their way to buy sweets at the garage. A 13-year-old should be in bed at that time,” she said.
Lampert lost Monday’s wages because he had to send staff home as he did not have electricity. City Power put the new meter box in late on Tuesday. He said he might have to pay R19 000 for it.
Asked whether he would pay for all the damage, the boy’s father said: “Their insurance will pay and will then come after me, so I will end up paying.”
The Star