Cape Town - Three-year-old Alime Mosekamedi is still fighting for his life at the St Joseph Hospital in Montana after he fractured his skull during a fall from a bridge in Khayelitsha last year.
He and other kids were walking across a railway line bridge in Enkanini in October 2016 when the incident happened.
Alime fell through a gap in the fencing of the footbridge, which straddles over the Kuyasa and Chris Hani train stations in Section 37.
His mother, Pulane Mosekamedi, 42, said her son’s lame body was brought home by another boy who witnessed the incident.
“He was bleeding from a gaping wound in his skull.
We could not even wait for an ambulance, but hired a car to rush him to Khayelitsha Hospital, from where he was rushed to Red Cross Children’s Hospital, where he stayed in the Intensive Care Unit for a week. From there he was transferred to Groote Schuur Hospital and now he is at St Joseph Hospital. He cannot do anything on his own. His condition is still very bad and he is in constant pain. I feel very bad that I almost lost my son,” Mosekamedi said.
Mosekamedi accused Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (PRASA) for not maintaining the bridge.
“I want PRASA to pay for the damages. It is their responsibility to maintain the bridge. My child would not have been in hospital had they maintained the bridge,” she added.
The gap on the rail barrier of the bridge was still there when City Vision visited on Tuesday.
(City Vision)
Daphne Kayster, acting Head of marketing and communication for PRASA said her office was doing a follow-up on the issue and that they will take steps once they have all the information.
Kuthula Mamba, provincial chairperson for Socialist Movement and also former councillor in the area, said the bridge was never maintained since it was built in 2010.
“The rail barrier was cut by the thugs who sell scrap metal. It has been standing like that for a long time now.”
