KUTLWANO OLIFANT
ANGRY residents of Meadowlands Zone 7 yesterday barricaded the streets where Tshegofasto Mampe, 9, was killed when she was hit by a car on Wednesday afternoon.
The grade 4 Meadowlands Primary School pupil was the second child to be hit and killed by a car in the past six weeks in the same area.
Last month, six-year-old Tshepang Mokoena was killed by a car only a street away.
Just after 11am yesterday, residents took to Maseru and Lekankagata streets, burning tyres and barricading the roads.
Police were deployed to monitor the area.
SAPS spokesman Constable Sibusiso Chauke said police would continue to monitor the situation until the protest was over. “We are trying our best to ensure that people’s properties are not vandalised. Our visibility is high in the area.”
Residents sang and danced in the streets as cops watched.
Residents said they were angry because they had pleaded for bumps to calm speeding on the busy streets, where several other people have been injured by speeding vehicles. These pleas had been ignored, they said.
“Drivers use Lekankagata Street late in the evening to avoid the main street, Maseru. But now we fear for our children’s lives because both streets have turned into the dangerous streets of Zone 7,” said Dipuo Ramagare.
Johannes Sejaphala, whose house is in Lekankagata Street and opposite Meadowlands Primary, said she had witnessed many children and people die on the two roads.
“Sometimes scholar patrollers have left the roads when some of the children walk home.
“They then cross the streets by themselves, which is unsafe,” Sejaphala said.
Community Safety MEC Faith Mazibuko has sent condolences to the bereaved family of Tshegofasto.
“This is not an isolated incident, as pedestrians, particularly minors, are (often) knocked down by irresponsible drivers,” said Mazibuko.
“Road safety is the responsibility of pedestrians and motorists alike,” she added.
For the department to act decisively with regard to the perpetrators, who are said to be known in the community, the MEC has called for those with information to come forward.
Taxis, buses and cars made U-turns and had to use alternative roads during yesterday’s protest.