A three-man team from local security company SJC Security Services heroically saved the life of a critically injured baby after a tragic hit-and-run accident killed his mother on Bottelary Road in Kraaifontein on Thursday.
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In the early hours of Thursday morning, just before 1am, SJC Security Services Tactical Reaction and Armed Response team members Ryno Basson, Andre Volschenk and Marchelino Jooste were carrying out patrols when they came across the aftermath of the accident.
‘A body lay motionless in the middle of the road, a victim of a hit and run,’ the security company said in a Facebook post. ‘Our SJC Security team sprang into action, notifying our SJC control room to urgently summon an ambulance and Fire & Rescue.’
As trained, the trio began cordoning off the area as a crime scene. It was then that they discovered a baby lying roadside, metres away from the woman’s body.
The infant, believed to be 18 months old, was bleeding from the nose and wheezing.
‘With urgency, they tended to the infant, fighting to keep the baby conscious amid the chaos,’ said the security company. ‘The baby, with a bleeding nose and wheezing lungs, clung to life as our SJC team desperately provided medical assistance.’

Upon arrival, ER24 paramedics declared the mother dead on the scene and her body was transported to Tygerberg mortuary by forensic services.
In an update on Facebook, SJC Security Services said the baby was identified as a boy and was safely transported to Cape Gate Mediclinic for stabilisation from the scene. Thereafter, he was transferred to Red Cross Children’s Hospital where he is currently receiving treatment.
‘He was found to be in a critical condition, and was provided with advanced life support interventions at the scene before being transported to the hospital for further medical care,’ ER24’s media communication confirmed to IOL.
The baby boy remains in a critical condition.
The security company added in the update that ‘a notice has been sent out to the farming community along Bottelary Road to locate any family or friends of the baby and his deceased mother’ as it is believed that they might be from there, according to SJC Security Services CEO Charl du Toit.
Both the infant and deceased mother are yet to be identified.

Police spokesperson Captain Frederick van Wyk confirmed the incident and said a case of culpable homicide has been reported at Brackenfell SAPS. No arrests have been made and the investigation is ongoing.
Commenting on the tragic incident, Charl du Toit told IOL that his team remained calm while facing one of the most harrowing scenes in their careers and saved the life of the baby.
‘Had it not been for the team, we don’t know what would have happened to that baby,’ he said. ‘My team remained calm and carried out the training they were taught and did not go into shock.
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Picture: SJC Security Services / Facebook