Mum seeks justice after son killed in hit and run

After losing her eldest son in an alleged hit and run in November 2023, a Montford mother is still waiting patiently for her son’s perpetrator to face the might of the law, leaving her with a broken heart, questioning how the man behind the wheel has not yet been arrested. Nickaylan Johann was a young and aspiring man, who had been working as a clerk for ARB Electricals for less than a year and was regarded by all to be someone, who strived to be and do better.

With the company based in Prospecton, Nickaylan made use of a lift club to get to and from work, however, on the fateful day of the incident, the driver of the said transport had fallen ill, forcing the 23-year-old to use another transportation service.

ALSO READ: Merebank teenager killed in alleged hit and run

His teary-eyed mother, Sharon, explained her perspective of the day’s events. “They dropped both him and his co-worker off the Westcliff off-ramp and from there, he was going to take a taxi back home. They had to cross the road from where they were dropped off. When the first guy crossed, my son was about to cross and there were no cars- this guy says there was not a car in sight. Then, this taxi, coming from Mobeni, hit him head-on. The driver never stopped to see what happened to him. There was a lady in the taxi who asked him to stop because she wanted to get off and see Nickaylan’s condition. When she got off, she revived him, calmed him down, and asked him if he knew of anyone she could contact. He gave her my number. They called me and when I went there, he was on the ground. His body was fine, but he said to me ‘Mum, I can’t breathe.’ But I could not help him, because people around the scene said that we were not allowed to touch him until an ambulance arrived. The impact was so bad, it hit him on the head. He was on the side of the road,” she explained.

It was when the ambulance arrived that more issues began to arise.

“The ambulance got there and refused to take him to a hospital because all his information was on his phone and his phone was totally damaged. We tried to tell them that he is on medical insurance and they can take him to the hospital- we got the information from the company itself. These guys still refused to put him in the van. Eventually, after they were shouted at, the paramedics wrapped his head up and he was taken to a nearby hospital. There was someone still calling me from the ambulance to ask me if I had the medical aid information and was not interested in the patient. A lady at the hospital then said that she did not know if she could treat him because he was on Netcare medical aid. From what I understand, they are supposed to have stabilised him and sent him to his designated hospital. The paramedics then drove to St Augustine’s where they took him straight to trauma and did not ask me any questions about medical aid or anything of the sort. The doctor said to me that they were doing a CT scan for him and that he was perfectly fine. Half an hour later, they came out and told me when they were ready to take him for the CT scan, they had to resuscitate him because he turned for the worse, and then they told me that he had passed away. I do not know how long it was, I was not in the right state of mind to worry about the time and how long it took. To me, it felt like it was five minutes. For days, I did not have the strength to do anything,” she added.

Communications officer of Chatsworth SAPS, Cpt Cheryl Pillay, confirmed the incident, stating, “An accident occurred along the Higginson Highway where a pedestrian, who was standing at the Woodhurst off-ramp was knocked. The victim sadly succumbed to his injuries in hospital. Chatsworth police are investigating a case of culpable homicide.”

Sharon alleged that the doctor phoned the day he passed on and spoke to her cousin.

“She said that we needed to take the ambulance up because they were supposed to put him on a drip, and they were supposed to put him on an oxygen tank because he did say that he could not breathe. I do not know how to go about all of this. It will not get my son back to me, but it’s going to make other people aware because the first thing they ask you for is your medical aid card. Does everyone carry their medical aid cards? According to police, the driver says he went to the police station and got a policeman from there to check for my son at the RK Khan Hospital. The right thing for him to have done was to wait at the scene of the accident- to see if the person was okay. He says Nickaylan ran across the road, but he did not- there are witnesses. This guy needs to be accountable for what he has done. What if he does it to someone else, and gets away with it again? He was obviously speeding. The lady who helped Nickaylan told me that the driver was angry from the time he left Durban right to Chatsworth. He was bickering all along the way and being difficult with the passengers. At the end of the day, all I want is justice for my baby, because he went to work, and he never came back home,” the traumatised mother added.

She said that her younger son is still devastated by the incident.

ALSO READ: Pastor and son- suspects in ‘hit and run’

“They were each other’s pillars of strength. He cannot handle it. He is my major priority right now. I cannot think about myself. Nickaylan was a gem of a child. He was a child who would not retaliate, fight or scream. If the neighbours asked, he would be jumping over the wall to help. They lost their father at a very young age. My younger son is very lost without his brother. His colleagues said they had never met a more respectful person than him. He was also about to study logistics management for the company he worked for. Anyone who knew him knew his smile- he was always smiling. Many people attended his funeral- people that I didn’t even know. There was an old lady, who came to the funeral and said ‘That was my baby, my grandson. He used to buy me a loaf of bread and milk.’ When she was sick, he went to her bed and asked what she needed and he would buy it for her. I am so proud of him because he did something good. He took a good name. But I will never see him get married or have children. I believe that God has a reason for everything and I miss my child more than anything. From a mother’s perspective, it is not like when you lose your mother, sister, brother or father. It cuts deeply when you lose your child- it is totally different,” she concluded.

Upon speaking to a member of the private ambulance service, which picked up Nickaylan, it was explained that medical aid or cash needs to be provided as companies need such.

It was also explained that the company would look into the matter.