Road victim loses faith in the police

All I want is closure, says 21-year-old who lost his leg

AMAN left disabled when an alleged drunk driver knocked him down and severed his leg says he has lost faith in the police and the justice system.

Six months after a motorist knocked Lebogang Silindane down, and then picked him up and tossed him over the embankment thinking he was dead, the 21-year-old man said it was disappointing how his case had been handled.

First, police officers who arrived at the scene shortly after the accident allegedly said the incident had occurred outside their jurisdiction, so left without even calling an ambulance.

Then when the motorist who hit him and fled the scene, leaving his car there, arrived later to pick it up, the police who were still there with Silindane’s family did not arrest him. They let him take his car and leave.

A few days later, they said they wanted to arrest him but were battling to find him. And now, Silindane does not know what is happening with his case, whether the man has been arrested, and if so, what he is being charged with and when the matter will go to court.

“No one is saying anything; I am very disappointed. I don’t know how South African justice works. All I want is closure and I can’t get it without knowing what’s happening with my case,” he said.

On August 24 last year, Silindane was walking home to Soweto when a car allegedly travelling at high speed lost control trying to negotiate a bend and hit him. It dragged him for a few metres before coming to a standstill.

Silindane said as he lay on the ground in excruciating pain, the driver picked him up and threw him over the barrier on the other side of the road then stood there watching him to see whether he was moving.

The motorist only fled when Simnikiwe Xhala, who was also walking home, started running towards the accident scene.

Silindane’s mother, Refilwe, said she had given up hope of her son getting justice.

She said the investigating officer had called her at the beginning of January to tell her that a summons had been served on the perpetrator and she would get back to her in a few days to give her the court date.

She is still waiting for the officer to get back to her.

“I don’t think we’ll get justice. We are the ones who have to go after the investigating officer. Since the accident happened, I have spoken to her only five times. When we go to Mondeor Police Station, we never find her and she never returns our calls,” she said.

The Star contacted Colonel Katlego Mogale of the provincial police to find out what was happening with Silindane’s case, whether any arrest had been made, what the charges were and whether the person would go to court soon.

However, Mogale did not respond to the questions.