Cape Town - Hanover Park, riddled with the effects of bullets from gang wars and other tragedies, found itself drenched in tears once again when the bodies of two boys were taken from their homes to their final resting places.
On one side of the community, mourners gathered outside Etosha Court in Hanover Park for the Janazah of 6-year-old Zakariyah Noble, who died after being struck in the chest by a stray bullet during gang violence on Monday.
Just after 2pm, the boy’s father, Kieyamodien Noble, came back from the morgue and proceeded to carry his son’s body from the car into the house, with mourners exclaiming in pain and sadness.
About two hours later, when Zakariyah’s body was brought from the block of flats before going to the mosque, his mother’s cries were loud enough for those who came to pay their respects to feel nothing but pain for the grieving family.
The boy’s grandmother, Nadema Pretorius, said that her daughter, Zakariyah’s mother, was not in a good condition to talk to anyone about her son’s passing. On Tuesday they had to take her to the doctor because she still had not gathered her feelings around the tragedy.
“She told the doctor that she was feeling hollow after her son’s death and that she did not know if that’s how she’s supposed to feel.”
Pretorius said that she last saw Zakariyah on Sunday, a day before he was shot and declared dead in hospital. Sobbing, she described him as a humble and sweet boy, and just like any other kid he had his moments of being naughty.
“Zakariyah did not permanently reside in Hanover Park, he normally came after school and stayed until around 7pm, when his daddy came to fetch him.
“At the moment we are all in pain and in grief, and it will take some time for us to be okay. As broken as we all are, as a family we are standing behind his parents and older sister.”
Kieyamodien Noble said never in his life did he ever imagine that he would bury one of his children. He thought that one day his son would be the one burying him.
“It has always played on my mind that I’ll one day train my son and show him what it is like to man up and be the leader and the shepherd of the household. His mind was still of pure nature, being a 6-year-old he still did not know much about life.”
In another part of Hanover Park, 5-year-old boy Mogamat Jardien was laid to rest after he touched live wires hanging from a pole vandalised by cable thieves.
A relative of the boy, Moulana Tohaa Rodrigues, previously told the Cape Argus that following the incident, a councillor from the area came to weld the pole.
“It was about 4pm on that day when this happened. The children were playing outside and the pitch was wet because they were cleaning the yard. Mogamat unfortunately did not have his shoes on at the time of the incident and we suspect that when he came outside he touched a live wire while standing on the wet surface, as he got shocked.”
Rodrigues said the boy was rushed to hospital but when they got there, they could not get a pulse. An hour after that he was declared dead.
“The wires were exposed from the pole due to cable theft. Many of these izinyokas (cable thieves) open the poles and pull out cables and leave live wires exposed. Sometimes the cables are seen with sparks. There are many poles like that, including the one right in front of his home,” he said.