The family of a 14-year-old teenage boy who was hospitalised after being involved in a car crash that was allegedly caused by Sekhukhune United midfielder Shaune Mogaila is distraught after seeing him being fed through tubes and drips.
The teenager, who was doing grade 8 at Edleen Primary School in Kempton Park, also relies on hospital machines to breathe.
A bandage has been wrapped around his head and his eyes are also bandaged due to the injuries he sustained.
This was revealed to Sunday World this week by the boy’s aunt at their family home in Tembisa, east of Johannesburg.
The aunt did not want to be identified.
The aunt said the boy’s hospital room is filled with ‘Get Well’ cards and balloons bought by his family and schoolmates for his 14th birthday, which fell on November 4, just five days after the car crash that took a little girl’s life.
The teenager is still unconscious in the intensive care unit at a Gauteng hospital.
The aunt said the family was saddened to see their son in such a critical condition.
“We are sad. Seeing him in the hospital is stressful and emotionally draining. We visit him in hospital three times a day because we cannot sleep without seeing him. The person who caused the accident was drunk and killed an innocent person. He was selfish and self-centred. When he was driving, he was not in a stable mind,” said the aunt, while wiping off her tears.
She said the family was not able to celebrate the teen’s birthday on November 4 for the second consecutive year. On November 4 last year, his grandmother died after a short illness, plunging the family into mourning.
“This year he was in hospital on his birthday. Usually, on his birthday we go to McDonalds to celebrate and buy cake for him,” she said.
On October 30, the teenager and Gomolemo Mavimbela (9) were being transported to school by the girl’s mother, Keo Mavimbela, when Mogaila’s car smashed into their car on Andrew Mapheto Drive in Tembisa. Gomolemo died at the scene, while Mavimbela and the boy were taken to hospital for the injuries they sustained.
Gomolemo was doing Grade 4 at Edleen Primary School.
Gomolemo’s aunt Floro Poneo, said the family has still not told Mavimbela about her daughter’s death and funeral, which took place last weekend in Tembisa.
Mavimbela could not attend the funeral.
During Mogaila’s first court appearance, Poneo burst into tears and walked out of the courtroom when the Betway PSL star walked into the courtroom and stood in the accused dock with a plaster on his forehead.
Mogaila was granted R20 000 bail by the Tembisa Magistrate’s Court during his first appearance. The matter was postponed to February 4, 2025, for further police investigations.
Mogaila is facing charges of culpable homicide, reckless and negligent driving, and fleeing the scene of an accident.
Sekhukhune United media officer Karabo Bambo declined to comment on Mogaila’s future at the club, saying that the player’s case is now before the court.
Mogaila fled the scene of the crash but later handed himself over to police. Police later revealed that they found four bottles of alcohol, a powder they suspect to be cocaine and weed edibles in Mogaila’s car.
The night before the crash, Mogaila played in Sekhukhune United’s 2-0 victory over Richards Bay in a league match at the Peter Mokaba Stadium in Polokwane, Limpopo.
