Cape Town - A speeding car crashed into a Mitchells Plain couple's home, nearly killing them.
And while Shahiem and Thaaniyah Johnson were still trying to get over the shock, they were robbed of furniture worth over R30 000.
An angry Shahiem says the disaster could have been avoided if the City of Cape Town took heed of his warnings that his house was in a vulnerable spot.
The Mitchells Plain father says he's been begging officials to install speed bumps or a barrier in Victory Drive, but his pleas have fallen on deaf ears.
The crash has left a gaping hole in the house in Supercourt Street, Westcape Villas, Westridge, forcing the little family to rent a place elsewhere while their house is being repaired.
On September 17, Shahiem, 35, Thaaniyah, 30, their son Rayaan, 9, and eight-month old daughter Tashmika woke up to a bang as a bakkie rammed into their house in the early hours of the morning.
Johnson, who had been sleeping in his son's room, says the bakkie missed them by centimetres.
"I heard a loud bang and then a rumbling sound," he explains.
"I was sleeping next to my son who was afraid to sleep alone. I instinctively covered my son with my body. I could feel the bricks falling on top of me."
He was left with scratches and bruises on his head and back while Rayaan's ear was grazed by falling debris.
As he rushed his family out of the crumbling house, thieves pretending to help stole R30 000 worth of their valuables, including their flat screen TV and PlayStation.
The driver, who tried to flee, was brought back to the scene and arrested for negligent driving.
He was later released on bail.
Thaaniyah says she wrote to the City back in November 2015, warning them of speeding drivers on Victory Drive.
She wrote: "My fear is that they will drive straight into my house and the only way that we might be able to slow down their speed is by putting speed humps on Victory Drive."
Responding to a Daily Voice query, City spokesperson, Priya Reddy, gave the same reply the City had given to the couple last month.
Reddy says: "Speeding and unsafe driving are universal issues throughout the Cape Town metropolitan area and therefore cannot be used in their entirety to justify the need for traffic calming."
Daily Voice