A 10-year-old boy is lucky to be alive after he was hit in the neck by a stray bullet in Manenberg on Thursday.
Niyaaz Delport was on his way to get a toy from a friend in Irvin Street when gunshots rang out.
The boy, who was standing at the gate, was hit in the neck and fell to the ground.
His mother Fierdose says: “I thought it was not close here, but I saw people rushing to the house saying my boy was shot.”
She went to the scene and found someone putting the boy in their car to take him to the hospital.
“When I got there, I thought he was gone. I saw blood on the neck and thought the worst,” says Fierdose.
Luckily Niyaaz made it in time to hospital and did not suffer serious injury.
Niyaaz told the Daily Voice he only realised that he had been shot when he was at the hospital.
“I felt like my neck was burning and when I touched it there was blood,” he says.
Meanwhile, children at nearby Saambou Primary School had to take cover when the shooting started.
A picture of pupils lying flat down on a classroom floor was shared on social media.
A worried Fierdose says the police have not visited them to take statements.
“I do not know what to do because no one came out to us. I was so relieved when I was told that my boy will be OK,” she said.
Manenberg has been on high alert this week with shootings reported virtually every day.
SAPS’ Captain FC van Wyk said the police has no record of the incident.