Injured child sparks calls for safer roads in Gqeberha neighbourhood

Ten-year-old Azariah Pietersen should have been back at school by now. Instead, her school bag lies untouched at the family’s home in Missionvale as she recovers from injuries that nearly claimed her life last spring.

“It’s painful to see her sad like this and just sitting at home. My child has always been happy and playful. All she wants is to be back at school,” her mother, Junita, said. “Yet the taxi driver who [allegedly] hit her still drives around as if nothing happened.”

Residents of this Gqeberha neighbourhood have for years pleaded for traffic-calming measures on Old Uitenhage Road, a busy corridor frequented often by speeding taxis, buses and trucks.

Near Old Uitenhage Road runs the notorious R75, about which Daily Maverick has repeatedly reported in connection with malfunctioning traffic lights and a string of fatal crashes.

Read more: Is this Nelson Mandela Bay’s most dangerous road?

Read more: Nelson Mandela Bay councillors want answers on deadly R75

Ward 31 councillor Teslin Booysen and parents living along the route say taxis often barrel through stop streets at speed. An informal taxi rank has also mushroomed on the corner of Johnson Road and Old Uitenhage Road.

It was not far from this informal taxi rank that a taxi hit Azariah on the afternoon of 8 September 2025. According to her father, Christopher, she had asked for money to go to the shop across the road shortly after 3pm.

A bus slowed to let her cross, but as she stepped forward, it is alleged that a fully loaded taxi sped past at “a terrifying speed”, skipping the stop before hitting the child.

“The taxi only stopped about 300 metres away,” Christopher Pietersen said. Passengers scrambled out as the driver reversed back towards the injured girl lying sprawled in the middle of the road. “When he got out, I realised he was [allegedly] under the influence. He apologised and admitted he’d been drinking,” he said.

What followed was chaos, which Pietersen says is a symptom of residents’ frustration.

A police patrol vehicle from KwaZakhele arrived as community members confronted the driver. Officers battled to calm the crowd while the family tried repeatedly to call for an ambulance.

With emergency services delayed despite several phone calls, Pietersen and a friend drove to Dora Nginza Hospital to request medical assistance in person.

Azariah suffered a broken leg, head trauma, damage to her lung and severe injuries to one eye. While being transferred to Livingstone Hospital, doctors discovered a collapsed lung.

She spent nearly a month in the paediatric ward and has undergone multiple procedures, including the removal of metal pins from her leg two weeks ago.

South African Police Service (SAPS) spokesperson captain Sandra Janse van Rensburg said SAPS KwaDwesi detectives are still busy with the investigation.

“There are outstanding reports, but the driver of the vehicle involved will be appearing in New Brighton Magistrates’ Court on 9 March 2026,” she said.

In December, the school advised that Azariah may need to stay out longer or move to a special needs school, and has since sent learning materials home for her.

Pietersen said his daughter’s emotional wellbeing has suffered. “She cried when she heard it. She wants to be in class with her friends.”

Booysen said the accident “should never have happened” and confirmed that Old Uitenhage Road has been the subject of repeated complaints.

The road was refurbished in recent years, with a concrete surface replacing tar, but speed humps and traffic circles were omitted from certain stretches, particularly the section of road where Azariah was hit.

“There are many taxis at the Johnson Street corner. It’s an informal rank. I’ve raised concerns several times about installing speed bumps, but nothing has been done,” Booysen said.

Daily Maverick has seen communication Booysen sent to the municipality’s Roads and Transport Directorate on 12 June 2024 – almost a year before the accident – highlighting “continuous calls from the community” and noting previous crashes linked to incomplete roadworks.

Booysen said officials told him budget constraints were partly to blame for the lack traffic-calming infrastructure, but he would continue pushing for changes along the corridor, comparing it to the high-risk R75 route. “We can’t wait for more children to get hurt.”

Residents say signage is lacking, and reckless driving is routine. “I firmly believe that if speed bumps had been installed, this accident would not have happened,” Pietersen said.

He added, half-jokingly, that he once told neighbourhood children he was ready to fill plastic bags with paint to throw at taxis “if they drove recklessly in the mornings”.

Municipal spokesperson Sithembiso Soyaya said the municipality has invested more than R20-million into upgrading the Old Uitenhage Road over the past three years.

He said a further R11-million has been allocated in the current financial year to continue the project, which will eventually expand north toward Kleinskool.

“The upgrade project of Old Uitenhage commenced from Missionvale, which has seen us replace the old asphalt surfaced roads to concrete roads with its associated traffic-calming measures. We will also continue to expand the construction project north to Kleinskool in the coming years,” Soyaya said.

“This has seen significant improvement on road safety in the area with new concrete roads being built, increased speed humps (traffic-calming measures),” he said.

“The portion of road in question has been recently upgraded in the 2024/2025 financial year and we will continue to enhance traffic-calming measures in the area.” DM