‘I always thought I was one of the lucky ones’

THE 42-year-old single parent is the mother of Sulaiman Jacobs, a 17-year-old matric pupil who was shot on August 20 while waiting for his school bus. He has been left paralysed.

“I always thought that I was one of the lucky ones because my son refused to associate with gangsters. Then this happens,” said Jacobs, who has four children.

“Now I realise that the lucky ones are those who don’t have to raise their kids in the ghettos. I’ve done all I can to give my children the best start in life.

“That’s why I sent Sulaiman to Batavia High School in Lansdowne. I did not want him to go to a high school in Hanover Park where he could be pressured into joining one of the many gangs in the area.

“If you want to get to school here, you have to either be taken there every day by your parents in a car or belong to one of the gangs to guarantee safe passage.”

She recalls the morning her life — and that of Sulaiman — was changed forever. “I was locking my front door, on my way to dropping my two younger kids at school. I heard the shots. Ba! Ba! Ba! Then someone screamed that they shot Sulaiman.

“I don’t know how I got there, but I found him lying in Surran Road. The bullet went through his back and lodged in his spine. One of the bystanders told me one of the shooters — there were three — had run up to Sulaiman and apologised.

“Apparently he said to Sulaiman, ‘I’m sorry, I’m sorry. Just lie here, the ambulance will come now. You’ll be all right.’ Bystanders also said that they, the shooters, were in shock, shouting at each other, ‘We just shot an innocent child!’

“I don’t care if it was an accident. My son is paralysed. He will never walk again. The Fancy Boys have to take responsibility for what they’ve done. And Zaakir Barendse, the [alleged] shooter, will have to go to jail.”

Sulaiman, who dreamt of being a carpenter, was told the extent of his injury only a week later. Jacobs said: “I could not bring myself to say the word ‘never’. I told him gently, ‘Sulaiman, the doctors say you will not walk today, or tomorrow, but one day you might.’

“I cannot say how he took the news. All that he talks about is that he still has a school project to finish. When he is discharged from Groote Schuur Hospital, he will be going to Lentegeur Hospital for rehabilitation. He will have to learn to live with his disability.

“Why Sulaiman? I ask myself this every day. He was just a boy who loved school, rugby, cartoons and helping me around the house. He didn’t even have a girlfriend yet. He is truly an innocent child.

“The so-called leader of the Fancy Boys — Newfields Village ‘belongs’ to them — came to my house to apologise on behalf of the gang. I said to him, ‘Bangles, the Fancy Boys’ slogan is ‘ Niks

sal march nie’, [no harm will come to the community] but looked what marched now.”—