Drunk driver kills 53-year-old man

A Kraaifontein mother comforted her son and prayed over him in his final moments after he was knocked down by an alleged drunk driver in Scottsville.

Sheila Hector, 74, said her son, Shaun Hector, 53, also known as “Blomme”, would be sorely missed by not only her but the the people of the entire community.

Shaun was not married and had no children, but his mom said he would be remembered for his charming ways, especially by the women he gave flowers to – it’s that practice that earned him his nickname.

Ms Hector rushed to the corner of Milton Street and Hop Road, outside the New Apostolic Church in Scottsville last Thursday, after hearing her son had been knocked down there.

“When I got to the scene, I saw my son lying there, and people told me he was dead, but I went to him and touched his head and said, ‘Mamma is here.’ His eyes rolled a bit, and I prayed for him.”

She said a “a 29-year-old boy” had been arrested at the scene for drunk driving.

“But I forgive this boy. If it was Shaun’s time to go, then it was set out like that. But the 29-year-old boy will receive no bail, and I feel sorry for him although he was drunk. His family is very supportive,” she said. 

She said that on the morning of Shaun’s death, before he left to do a tiling job, she had asked him to make a pot of curry. It was a meal she ended up making herself.

Ms Hector said Shaun had been a happy person, and she believes he is in a happy place.

Jessi Hector, Shaun’s niece, said she would miss her uncle dearly. He had been a jack of all trades.

“You could always count on him, and he was very down to earth. The family is taking his death quite hard.”

She said the driver who knocked Shaun down had been drunk and had lost control of his VW Golf Mk1 while trying to overtake a Quantum van and a truck at the same time.

The family are waiting for an autopsy to be done before they arrange Shaun’s funeral.

Kraaifontein police spokesman, Captain Hein Hendricks, said a 29-year-old-man had been arrested for culpable homicide and driving under the influence of alcohol.