A year after losing his son during a hijacking outside his home in Soshanguve block UU, Ditebogo Phalane recalls that tragic night.
“What I remember from that night is me, as a father, driving with my unconscious son, carrying him on my lap, hugging him with my left hand, holding him tight to my chest and driving the fastest speed I have driven in my life, and passing other cars as though I'm in a formula 1 racing car.”
Phalane's five-year-old son Ditebogo Jnr died on May 10 2024.
I was driving while praying and asking God and my ancestors to forgive me wherever I have wronged them — that please punish me and not my innocent son who has no sins.
— Ditebogo Phalane
“What comes back to me are the hazards lights I had on and the hooters from other cars. Maybe they thought this guy is probably drunk or high on something, I really don't know how I managed to get to the hospital in that state.
“I do not have CPR experience, but what I tried to do while driving was to feel my son's pulse as it kept coming and going. At some point I felt it, then I didn't, but above all I was so positive that we will get to the hospital — we will bring our son back to life — he's only sleeping because of shock because I remembered my experience when I got shot, that I slept for a while and later I came back to life, so I thought it's just how it's supposed to happen,” he said.
He recalled how he prayed while driving.
“I was driving while praying and asking God and my ancestors to forgive me wherever I have wronged them — that please punish me and not my innocent son who has no sins. I changed my prayer to a command, saying Ditebogo Junior Phalane, I am your father, I gave you life, I prayed for you before you were born and I even prayed for [you] while you were in your mother's womb. I envisioned you before you were born and my prayers were answered because you became exactly what I wished for, so there is no way you can turn your back on me now son, you are Phalane you're more than a bullet.”
“The more I prayed, the more I lost his pulse — I stopped praying and stepped on the accelerator to reach the hospital,” he said.
Phalane explained that when they reached the hospital gates, it was if they were expecting them.
“When we got to the emergency ward, the treatment was quick and fast, as though they were expecting us. Nurses snatched my son away from my arms straight to the bed, shouting doctor, doctor! Again it's like he was also expecting us, he came in seconds,” he said.
Three men have been charged with Ditebogo Jnr's murder and the case is with the courts.
SowetanLIVE reported that a social media post selling livestock was used to lure an off-duty police officer to Winterveld, Tshwane, where he was robbed of his service pistol, which was used to kill Ditebogo Jnr five months later.
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.