Manhunt for Good Friday hit-and-run driver who killed pedestrian

Good Friday turned into a nightmare for Anna Jonker after she found the body of her son‚ Nicolaas Afrikaner‚ lying in the road in Kakamas. He was the victim of a hit-and-run incident and now Northern Cape Police have embarked on a manhunt for a person who drove the VW Polo with a Gauteng number plate who allegedly killed the 35-year-old pedestrian.

Jonker said she will miss the son who always brought laughter to the home.

“He was a loving person‚ very talkative‚ very social. He was a good person. He was the funny one in the family‚ always telling jokes. Everyone knows him and he was liked by the community‚” said Jonker.

The 69-year-old lost her biological children when they were young. When her cousin passed away Jonker said she didn’t think twice before taking in her three children - including Afrikaner who was just a toddler at the time.

“The accident happened on Good Friday. I can’t really tell what happened. I don’t know every detail of the accident. I was awakened by a family member on Friday. He called me in the early hours of the morning and said that Nicolaas was lying in the road. He wasn’t moving or making a sound‚” said Jonker.

The family is struggling to come to terms with his death because he had spent time with them on Thursday.

“My cousin’s husband was on his way to work when he saw Nicolaas’ body lying there. The driver that knocked him was nowhere in sight. Thankfully there were three people who saw what happened. They were on their way to the club. They ran to him when the saw the car bump into him‚” said Jonker.

Northern Cape Police spokesperson Captain Olbeogeng Tawana has appealed to the community to help with information that could lead to the motorist's arrest. Tawana said the person sped away from the scene of the accident.

“The suspect is urged to hand himself to the nearest police station‚ because we have launched a hunt to bring him to book‚ to come and account for the crime he committed‚” said Tawana.