Ten-year-old Dante Nikita Hageman loved to sing and dance, and wouldn’t hurt a fly.
Her best friend, Sonja van Wyk, 11, was a “bubbly and beautiful little girl” who was always smiling.
But on February 10, the lives of both children were cut tragically short when a convicted drunk driver, Friedl Roller, allegedly ploughed into Sonja’s father’s car in Hartenbos, Mossel Bay, as Roller was fleeing from police.
Dante and Sonja, who had just rented a DVD and bought sweets at a local garage, were killed instantly. Sonja’s father, Jaco van Wyk, was left in a coma and now struggles to walk and work, while Janika, his seven-year-old daughter, had to have a hip operation.
Dante’s devastated father, Mark Hageman, is determined to get justice.
Since his daughter’s death, he has led a campaign, No Bail for Friedl Roller, getting 5 000 signatures for his petition.
On Thursday he will present the petition to the Mossel Bay Regional Court where Roller, who has been charged with two counts of murder, will apply for bail.
Roller, 39, is understood to have several previous convictions for drunk and negligent driving, and reportedly had a suspended sentence when he crashed into Van Wyk’s car.
On the night of the accident, police had pulled him over for reckless driving, and the chase that ensued ended in tragedy.
“She was my everything,” Hageman said of his daughter this week. “She loved to go for weekends with Sonja to her dad’s work at a farm to feed the calves.”
Lionel Campbell, a family friend, said members of the community planned to march to the court on Thursday.
Weekend Argus