Nearly three years after his teen son was brutally gunned down amid a raging gang war, a Mitchells Plain dad has opened up about his fight for justice by writing a book, but needs your help to get it published.
The heartbroken dad of Chad Basson, 19, who died a hero as he shielded his friends from bullets during a shooting in Lentegeur says he hopes to help parents of innocent victims as he details the uphill struggles to bring the alleged killer to book.
The popular youngster was killed in a drive-by shooting in July 2018 as the Fancy Boys and Junior Cisco Yakkies gangs went to war.
Residents alleged that Chad, 19, and his friends, who attended a 21st birthday party, were mistaken for skollies.
Dad Cornelius, 57, says as cops searched for clues, he took to writing to deal with his grief.
“The first month after Chad died, I started writing letters to my son,” he says.
“There were many feelings and things I wanted to tell him and I started documenting the investigation.”
After Chad was buried, Cornelius and mom Dawn, 53, raised questions about the slow pace of the investigation.
The couple discovered that the alleged gunman, Jeffrey “Percy” Afrika, had fled to Port Elizabeth and no attempts were being made to locate him.
They took their plight to National Police Commissioner Lieutenant-General Khehla Sithole and the case was reassigned to the Anti-Gang Unit.
Two years later, Afrika was successfully traced and is currently on trial for Chad’s murder at the Mitchells Plain Regional Court.
The book is titled Not all Heroes have Capes and features 23 chapters.
The first chapter is called The Nightmare Begins and details a gripping account of Dawn’s painful cries to skollies to end the bloodshed as she held her son’s bullet-ridden body.
Cornelius says while attending a local support group, he realised many parents were struggling to get justice.
“It’s a gruelling process and before our son died we had no idea how the police, courts and justice system works.
“You go to court and you just feel lost so I also address these aspects to help educate and empower parents.”
The book, which has been edited by a group of Mitchells Plain teachers, has been completed but Cornelius says he is now trying to raise R8000 for it to be published.
“This will cover the illustration and the printing of 50 books for the community.
“I started a crowdfunding campaign but so far only raised R50.”
To assist visit https://www.backabuddy.co.za/chad.