Pretoria - Metro police will be looking into implementing traffic safety measures following the death of a 10-year-old girl who was killed after being hit by a car.
Ntombi Mazorodze was on her way to school when she was struck by a speeding vehicle on the busy Alwyn Street less than 500 metres from her home on Wednesday.
Mazorodze, a Grade 5 pupil at the local Jan Kotlolo Primary School, died from injuries sustained in the crash.
The driver of the grey Nissan Almera that knocked her down allegedly fled the scene after realising what he had done.
Metro police spokesman Senior Superintendent Isaac Mahamba said the city was planning on conducting an assessment of the area and the street to determine how to assist the community.
“It is sad and regrettable that the life of a 10-year-old girl was lost in this manner. The department will look into doing an assessment in the area to see how best we can assist in preventing further accidents from occurring,” Mahamba said.
Makeshift ‘speed humps’
He said the department might also look into implementing speed law enforcement to slow down the speed at which motorists drive on the busy street.
“We will also look into how to assist schools by providing them with scholar patrol equipment and training,” he said.
This comes after residents in the area took to the streets with pick axes and shovels and dug up the tar on the street to create makeshift “speed humps” following Mazorodze’s death.
Nellmapius community committee chairman Tommy Huma said they had made numerous attempts to convince the city administration to install speed humps or a traffic light on the street.
Residents said they had been told that measures would be put in place to counter speeding by motorists.
“We were promised traffic controllers would be on the road during peak hours,” Huma said. “Till today nothing has happened.
“Now we've lost a child. How many children must die before authorities do something?”
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