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Wednesday, 28 January 2026
One year later: Friends, family still reeling from loss
Their memory carries on LIENTJIE MENTZ 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 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
Family members of the three learners who died in the collision at the N8 junction outside Bloemfontein gathered at the site on Saturday to lay wreaths, remembering the victims. PHOTO: Lientjie Mentz
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. Kearney will appear 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.
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