Pretoria - One minute, a three-year-old boy was playing merrily on his scooter on the balcony of a flat on the corner Madiba and Sophie de Bruyn streets in the CBD – the next he had tragically fallen six floors to his death.
The preschooler had been racing with his friend in the passages of the sixth floor on Monday.
His uncle, who asked that his name not to be published, said he had gone to Pick n Pay to buy peach Tropika juice, which was the boy’s favourite drink.
“It wasn’t even 15 minutes after I left when I got a call from the caretaker saying to come quickly because my nephew had been in an accident,” said the Zimbabwean man.
The boy’s mother was still in shock and was not up to speaking.
When the Pretoria News went to the building on on Tuesday afternoon, a few residents had gathered at the flat for a short memorial which the caretaker had organised.
A young woman sat outside the door of the flat comforting a weeping boy.
A few young women could be seen wearing head covers and crying softly.
Not everyone was aware of the incident as a neighbour could be heard nearby playing a pop song loudly.
The toddler had apparently tried to climb over the scooter when he accidentally fell over the balcony to the courtyard below.
According to the uncle, a domestic worker usually kept an eye on the boy, but had called in sick.
“When I arrived at the flat I saw an ambulance and the fire brigade people. That’s when it clicked that something fatal had occurred,” said the boy’s uncle.
He said they were waiting for the rest of the family to arrive from Zimbabwe to prepare the funeral accordingly.
The matter was being investigated, said police spokeswoman Captain Agnes Huma.
The child will be buried in Zandfontein on Friday.
Pretoria News