Cape Town - Claremont police are investigating a case of culpable homicide after an 18-year-old female was involved in a hit and run this weekend that took her life.
The young woman, who was later identified as Olivia Sieff, was said to have been leaving a night spot in Claremont when the incident happened.
Provincial police spokesperson Sergeant Wesley Twigg said the driver of the vehicle fled the scene of the accident, and the victim was declared deceased on the scene by medical personnel.
The Herschel Girls School alumni of 2021 gathered at the facility on Monday morning to pay their respects to Olivia Sieff.
As the girls gathered in grief, Herschel Girls School school principal, Mrs Heather Goedeke, said the Herschel Girls School family was devastated by the tragic news.
“Following the tragic death of Olivia, it seemed appropriate to create the space for her friends to connect so that they could be together in this sad and difficult time. Many of the matrics of 2021 have not yet left to start the next chapter of their lives at various universities and places of study, and so there was a sense of things being ‘in limbo.”
“Our school chaplain, Revd Lorna Lavarello-Smith, took time to pause and reflect quietly and provided candles in the chapel so that throughout the course of this week, anyone wishing to remember Olivia can go to the chapel, sit quietly and light a candle.”
“A memory book was placed alongside the flowers for people to capture their memories of Olivia. This will be given to the Sieff family so that they can read the memories and messages, and we hope, find some comfort in this.”
“Many of the students brought flowers and placed them around our fountain, which is in the centre of the school,“ said Goedeke.
Seiff’s passing came as the MEC for Transport and Public Works, Daylin Mitchell, released the comparative analytical briefing for 2019/20, 2020/21, and 2021/22 festive seasons.
Mitchell mentioned that driver behaviour resulted in motorists making hasty and radical decisions, resulting in pedestrian fatalities sitting at 55 for the overall municipal comparison fatalities from 1 December to 11 January.
"The number of people arrested for drunken driving increased from 89 in 2020/21 to 154 in 2021/22. Overall, the total number of arrests increased from 223 in 2020/21 to 315 in 2021/22."
"The festive season of 2021/22, in comparison to comparable periods in previous years, showed a significant increase in road fatalities, mostly due to driver behaviour, resulting in motorists making hasty and radical decisions regarding the basic rules of the road. These have often resulted in road crashes that claim many lives.“
"We will continually strive to utilise business intelligence obtained through our electronic systems together with operational experience and historical data to be able to look at improved planning, coordination, and effective decision- making in the operational environment," said Mitchell.