Heritage Day celebrations turned into a nightmare for a Westcliff family after their 12-year-old son was knocked by a taxi while he was standing on the pavement, and was dragged over 15 metres before the vehicle came to a standstill on Westcliff Drive.
Dredin Pillay is currently in a critical condition at a local hospital and suffered extensive injuries including a broken neck, fractured spine, twisted pelvis, fractures to legs and femur, and his ear tore off and had to be stitched back. His father, Nolan Pillay, said his family is still struggling to come to terms with the incident and are praying for his son. Chatsworth SAPS communications officer, Captain Cheryl Pillay, said police are investigating a case of reckless and negligent driving. Owner of Amawele Emergency Services, Claude Soobramodey, said he was off duty when he was notified of the accident and arrived on the scene immediately as he was nearby. “He described the incident as horrific and said there were no ambulances available at the time. I got into my private vehicle and got to the scene to find the child in a critical condition. I attended to the child and found that he had sustained multiple serious injuries. Other emergency services were called in to attend, however, after 15 minutes, the child was unconscious and needed advanced life support intervention,” he added.
Soobramodey said he had to make a call as it was a life and death situation and transported the child in the child’s father’s vehicle to hospital, where the child remains in critical condition. Captain Pillay confirmed that on 24 September, Chatsworth police attended to an accident along Westcliff Drive and said it is alleged that the driver of a taxi had knocked a child before crashing into the wall of a property. “SAPS Chatsworth is continuing with investigations,” she said. Chatsworth Community Policing Forum spokesperson, Selvan Moodley, said law enforcement officials should be more stringent and take a tougher stance against the reckless and negligent driving of taxi drivers. He encouraged the Chatsworth Taxi Association to advertise their number on the taxis so that residents and road users can easily report negligence and recklessness in order to be a proactive community and avoid accidents of this nature. PRO of the Chatsworth Taxi Association, Bashir Ismail, said the incident had not been brought to their attention and urged the parents to report serious cases to them. He further encouraged those who witness reckless and negligent driving to report the issue by calling the association on 031-400-5278.
