A Montford family hopes to find closure through the assistance of the public following the death of Mohamed Haniff, fondly known by the community as ‘Habai’.
According to his brother, Abdul Samad, the circumstances surrounding his death keep playing on his mind in hopes of finding out what exactly happened on that fateful evening. He said: “On Monday, 15 November, at approximately 6.30pm my brother had left our Road 701 home and hopped in the back of his friend’s open van. My brother just had a good haircut and a shave and little did we know that it was going to be the last time we saw him. It has been alleged that as the van he was in hit a speed hump, my brother fell off it. As per the driver, when my brother fell, a taxi also allegedly hit him and sped off.”
Samad, who is well-known in the community, said that even if it were just a freak accident, he and his family just want closure on 67-year-old Haniff’s death.
“When I arrived at the scene I was completely and utterly shocked because my brother was motionless and losing a lot of blood. He was only bleeding from his nose area and there was just so much blood.
His friend was urging him to wake up and when a nurse who lives nearby confirmed that his pulse was rapidly becoming faint, we rushed him to RK Khan Hospital. We could not wait for an ambulance even though we did call for it,” he said.
Haniff was confirmed dead on arrival by the doctor at the hospital. Samad said: “We did have a lengthy wait when we arrived at the hospital and had to place him on the stretcher ourselves. While we did hope that we could have had the slightest chance of reviving him, I knew deep down that he was gone.”
Spokesperson of the Chatsworth Minibus Taxi Association, Bashir Ismail, said that no incident had been reported to the association. “We cannot comment on the matter since we are unaware of the incident. We have patrollers that check our vehicles and monitor them on the road and no incident of the sort was brought to our attention. We hope that the family finds closure on the death of their loved one,” said Ismail.
A case has been opened with Chatsworth SAPS. Samad has urged anyone who witnessed the incident to come forth with information even if they wish to remain anonymous.
Those with information on the incident can contact Samad on 062-593-1875.
