A grieving mother has shared her desperate attempts to secure an ambulance in hopes of saving her critically injured daughter.
Whitney Dennis (15) was tragically shot and killed near her home in Tafelsig, Mitchells Plain, on Wednesday.
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Alongside her was Junaid Hill (24), who was also killed, while two others, aged 23 and 16, were injured.
The group was standing with friends on Bainskloof Street when they were attacked. Whitney’s distraught mother, Geraldine Dennis (41) recounted hearing gunshots from her home.
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‘After someone called out Whitney’s name, my husband went to look. I eventually went out there and my daughter was laying on the ground. My sister in Christ was kneeling by her head and praying for Whitney.’
Dennis described her frantic efforts to call for an ambulance.
‘At that time I got on the phone, calling for the ambulance to quickly come and they kept asking me things over and over. They said they would get back to me because there were no ambulances to be sent out.’
Despite her pleas, Dennis was told there were no ambulances available and was advised to contact a private service.
She then called her cousin, who works at a hospital, only to be informed that ambulances were not available and that the paramedics were at the police station.
After waiting for more than 30 minutes and seeing a ribbon placed around the scene, Dennis was told that her daughter had died.
‘She had no visible wounds, or blood, but she didn’t speak while I was there, but I had hope. I was disappointed in the paramedics. Maybe she could have been saved if they didn’t take so long to come.’
Dennis recounted the last time she saw her daughter alive, when Whitney was visiting a friend and standing with her friends.
‘None of the people she stood with were gangsters. Junaid was such a nice young man. He always greeted me when he walked past. What I heard was that there were guys who just went to them and started shooting at random. It’s a common thing here.’
Police spokesperson Wesley Twigg reported that unknown suspects approached the victims on foot and began shooting before fleeing.
‘The motive for the attack forms part of the police investigation.’
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Picture: JP Smith / Facebook