Residents improvise a speed bump on Mew Way after a hit and run incident. Photo: Vincent Lali
27 June 2017
On Saturday night, angry residents took to the streets after a speeding taxi hit and killed a man while he was crossing Mew Way at Ndlovini informal settlement in Khayelitsha. Protests then continued over the weekend.
“The residents protested angrily throughout the night, making their own speed hump and blocking the street with a shipping container, which we later removed and placed beyond the yellow line,” said a traffic officer who did not wish to be identified.
Ndlovini resident Mniniwo Dyifelt said Thembile Matolo, 37, was killed by a speeding taxi. He said the driver fled after realising the man was dead.
Police confirmed the death in a hit and run incident on Saturday at 9pm. A culpable homicide case docket was opened at Lingelethu-West police station.
Dyifelt said, “We want the City of Cape Town to make speed humps.”
Protesting resident Sisanda Kwaza said, “We won’t allow cars to travel on this road until the City makes speed humps.”
Matolo’s sister-in-law, Nakhane Tsele, said, “My brother-in-law was kind and quiet. You would never know how he felt.”
She said, “My sister is still totally devastated, and we struggle to put money together to bury the deceased.”
In an email, police spokesperson Captain F C van Wyk, stated that protest action took place on Saturday night and Sunday morning and law enforcement went to address “the angry community”.
“The taxi driver came to the police station on Sunday and a warning statement was taken. A docket will be forwarded to the Senior Public Prosecutor for a decision,” said Van Wyk.