BLOEMFONTEIN – Family members of three learners of the Dr C.F. Visser School who died in a collision at the N8 junction outside Bloemfontein, gathered at the site on Saturday 24 January to pay tribute and lay wreaths, remembering the children. The tragic accident claimed the lives of two brothers and their cousin.
The two Smit brothers, Ryan (6) and Ayden (8), and their cousin Leané van Papendorp (8) died at the traffic light on the N8 at the Aljo’s Superspar on 24 January 2025, when the car in which Leané’s mother, Adri Jonck, took the children to school was involved in an accident with a Hilux bakkie.
The driver of the bakkie, Tristan Kearney (20), appeared in the Bloemfontein Regional Court on 21 January.
Jonck and a friend of the children, Tennique Joubert, survived. They were both at the wreath-laying ceremony with family on Saturday.
Three crosses have been erected, with photos of Ryan, Ayden, and Leané. Balloons were released here after the laying of the wreaths.
Tinkie Jonck, the three children’s grandmother, thanked the community for their support at the event.
She spoke about how raw and hurt they all still feel.
“They (the children) were taken away from us a year ago on this day. It’s sad. Senseless, useless.
“I believe we will get answers someday. I hope to be reunited with them. I believe they are happy and they don’t want to swap places with us. I believe they live around us every day.”
She says she and the family are in pain every day.
“Every day hurts us. Since the time of the accident, we’ve been in the same pain every day.”
In a touching moment, Tennique released into the air three balloons with the first letters of her three friends’ names. The balloons floated over the traffic light into the blue summer sky of the Free State, above the spot where they had died a year ago.
The driver of the bakkie Kearney, will reappear in court again on 24 March on three counts of culpable homicide, one count of reckless and negligent driving, one count of disregarding a road traffic sign, as well as violating regulations pertaining to the number of people he could carry in his vehicle. He is then expected to plead guilty to the charges. Kearney was reportedly heading east along the N8 in the bakkie at the time of the accident. The driver of the Chevrolet Spark was following traffic along Kruger Avenue.
