Johannesburg - In a children’s ward, a 5-year-old boy lay quietly, his swollen left leg and foot bandaged and supported by a brick.
Shaun Radebe’s face became angry on Wednesday as he recalled the taxi accident in which an underage driver crashed into a house in Birchleigh North, Kempton Park, injuring him and nine other children between the ages of 4 and 12.
Neighbours heard the children’s screams before the taxi flew straight through the wall and the steel front gate and into Cynthia Mawela’s lounge.
“The children struggled to get out of the taxi. They had to break the door off to pull them out,” Mawela said.
Five hours after the accident, her driveway was still strewn with large pieces of wall, shattered glass and bloodstains.
“I was preparing for work and I heard a bang. After a few seconds, I heard children screaming… then I saw the dust in the house,” she said.
Paramedics transported the children, driver *Eric and the taxi’s owner, Nomasa Radebe, to Tembisa Hospital.
ER24 spokesman Russel Meiring said Isaac had sustained a lower leg fracture, while the children had mainly suffered bumps, bruises and lacerations.
In the X-ray room, Eric closed his eyes in pain, his voice soft.
Across his left cheek was a deep gash and dried blood. He winced as a nurse started stitching one of the many gashes on his legs. His left foot was in a splint.
Eric said the taxi’s brakes had failed, and then denied that he had been driving the vehicle.
He confirmed that he was only 17 years old, but was in too much pain to continue talking.
Meanwhile, Shaun’s mother, Patience Radebe, explained that Nomasa was her father and Shaun’s grandfather.
She said her son was waiting for surgery.
Without being asked, Shaun confirmed that Eric had indeed been driving the taxi.
He said it had been going very fast and he had been scared before it crashed.
Patience said she was glad her son, father, younger brother, 6, and sister, 10, who had all been travelling in the taxi, were alive.
“I’m feeling sad, but happy that they are alive and going to get well,” she said.
Ekurhuleni metro police department spokesman Chief Superintendent Wilfred Kgasago said charges would be laid against the driver and the taxi owner. “The initial charges against the driver will be reckless and negligent driving and driving without a licence. For the owner’s side, he will be charged with allowing an unlicensed driver to drive a motor vehicle.”
Other charges could be added following a reconstruction of the accident scene and investigation.