A Mitchells Plain teen has died after a gang bullet struck him in the head while walking with his friend to the shop.
Nathaniel Hendricks, 14, was declared brain dead on Sunday morning and doctors at Groote Schuur Hospital decided to switch off the life support machines on Sunday afternoon.
Angry neighbours say the Grade 8 learner from Tafelsig High School was an innocent, friendly boy who only wanted to go to the shop on Saturday.
A witness, who asked not to be named, says shortly after 8pm she was standing in front of her home when a gunman came walking down Arum Lilly Street.
“Daar was ’n klomp kinders in die pad en ek het met ’n vrou gepraat toe kom die man af in die pad. Nathaniel was there and he and his friend said they were going to the shop quickly.
“Toe ek weer kyk het hy sy hand gelig en begin skiet.”
The women and children ducked for cover and the witness says they waited for the man to stop shooting. When they stood up, they saw Nathaniel had been hit in the head.
“Daar was net bloed, ek kon dit nie glo nie. Hy is ’n onskuldige kind.”
He was rushed to Groote Schuur Hospital and a relative confirmed to the Daily Voice that he had been declared brain dead and the machines subsequently switched off.
Police spokesperson, Sergeant Noloyiso Rwexana, says a 51-year-old woman was also wounded and taken to hospital.
“No one has been arrested so far.”
The witness says the 51-year-old woman was shot while standing in the doorway of her neighbour’s house and two bullets lodged in her arm.