Alleged drunk driver released on bail

The man who was arrested for drunk driving after allegedly killing a four-year-old child on the outskirts of Jeffreys Bay on Thursday night has been released on R2000 bail.

Silvano Pelagatti, 88, from Aston Bay, was arrested for drunk driving on the scene of the crash.

Pelagatti appeared briefly in the Humansdorp Magistrate’s Court on Friday where he was charged and released on bail.

Pelagatti is accused of killing Godfrey Junior Geswint, 4, after he allegedly ran across Dolphin Drive – the road which joins Jeffreys Bay and Aston Bay - while playing with a friend alongside the road.

Geswint stayed with his family in the informal settlement which borders the road.

Geswint’s mother, only known as Mitta, declined to talk about the incident when approached by The Herald on Friday.

Police spokeswoman Captain Gerda Swart said that Pelagatti  was driving his green BMW from Aston Bay towards Jeffreys Bay at about 7pm when the incident happened.

“The driver says that he noticed two young children standing on the side of the road, when one of the children suddenly ran across the road, and was hit by the BMW,” she said.

“The child passed away at the scene.”

Swart said that Pelagatti had been taken to hospital for blood tests.

“He was subsequently arrested on charges of driving under the influence of liquor and culpable homicide,” she said.

Several residents in the area were aware of the death but did not have the details on what transpired.

Pelagatti will appear in the same court on October 12 while detectives wait for blood results.