Ekurhuleni Community Mourns After 12-Year-Old Arrested for Killing 14-Year-Old Pedestrian in Joyride

• A 12-year-old boy was arrested in Ekurhuleni after he took a car for a joyride, which ended in death
• The incident happened in Brakpan when the young boy took his father's car and drove it into a wall
• A 14-year-old who was in the yard was killed by the incident, and the City of Ekurhuleni has cautioned parents to be more vigilant

Tebogo Mokwena, a Briefly News current affairs journalist based in Johannesburg, South Africa, covered a range of criminal activities, including cash-in-transit heists, kidnappings, taxi violence, police investigations, police shootouts, and court cases at Daily Sun for over three years.

BRAKPAN, EKURHULENI — The Ekurhuleni government has cautioned parents to be vigilant and not leave their car keys lying around after a 12-year-old was arrested for a joyride gone wrong on 7 June 2025.

Boy kills teenager in joyride

According to Eyewitness News, the incident happened in Brakpan. The boy had taken his father's Mazda and gone on a joy ride. The joy ride came to an end when he drove into a wall of a house. He failed to obey a stop sign and knocked the teenager over. The teenager was certified dead on the scene.

The City of Ekurhuleni's spokesperson, Zweli Dlamini, urged parents to be more careful. He said community members must make sure that keys are kept safe, and children must not be given access to vehicles. The community held a vigil for the 14-year-old who lost his life.

Recent accidents in South Africa

• Four people, including three teenagers, were killed in the Eastern Cape on the N2 highway when they were returning home from a soccer tournament on 11 May 2025
• One person was killed and two were injured when a passenger vehicle and a bakkie collided with each other on the R102 in the Eastern Cape on 18 May
• Five people were killed in an accident between a minibus and a truck on the R60 in Worcester, Western Cape, on 23 May
• Three people lost their lives when a bus plunged off a bridge in Maidstone, Tongaat in KwaZulu-Natal, on 27 May
• Seven people died in two seperate crashes in Moumalanga on 28 May; the first accident claimed four lives on the R38, and the second claimed three lives

What did netizens say?

South Africans commenting on Facebook discussed the case.

Given Mabussi said:

"What a tragedy. A very young boy is having his life taken away from him because of a reckless kid. The owner of the vehicle must be held accountable."

Khayelihle Khaya said:

"The parents must answer big time. Rest easy, boy."

Aloeschka Joubert said:

"May God heal the hearts of the bereaved parents. This is an unfortunate and painful story."

8 killed in Mpumalanga accident

In a related article, Briefly News reported that eight people were killed and 16 were injured in an accident on the N2 in Empangeni, KwaZulu-Natal, on 11 May 2025. A truck collided with a delivery vehicle.

Emergency medical personnel responded and found that eight of the occupants of the vehicle were already dead. The survivors were rushed to the hospital.

Source: Briefly News