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- Matric pupil Wakeel Dreyer was laid to rest on Saturday.
- He was shot 17 times, just hours before he was set to collect his results at Beacon Hill High School.
- Two people have since been arrested.
It was a bitter and sombre Saturday morning as the body of Wakeel Dreyer made its final appearance at his home in Mitchells Plain, Cape Town as hundreds of people gathered in song and prayer to bid the "well-mannered" teen his final farewell.
Scores of people arrived in buses, minibuses, and lines of vehicles as Lucinda Roberts stood next to her son's white coffin.
Mourners walked into the family home in Beacon Valley to pass on condolences before moving on to the Pentecostal church in the area.
"I cannot believe I've buried my only child, it still feels raw and unreal that he was taken away from me in such a cruel manner. I still expect him to walk through the front door with his beautiful smile and hug me… gosh I'm going to miss my boy so much," Roberts told News24.
The bereaved mother said the support she had received on the day from neighbours, friends, and family members is what got her through the "very difficult day".
Dreyer, 18, was shot 17 times in what is believed to be a gang-related incident, just hours before he was due to get his matric results more than a week ago.
READ | 'I'm not ready to say goodbye': Memorial held for slain Cape Town teen shot 17 times
"It's never easy for a parent to bury their only child, I don't think I've ever felt this kind of heartbreak. Wakeel had a fear of guns – so much so, that his dream of one day becoming a metro police officer was stopped when he was shot three times in crossfire when he was 10 years old.
Roberts said her son had such a fear of guns that he refused to even look at pictures of them. "There was a shooting incident in the area when he was still small – he was outside and had his puppy in his hands when the stray bullets hit him in the stomach, leg, and back.
"Ever since, he never wanted to be in any career where guns were involved and it makes me so sad to think what his final moments were like when the gun was pointed at him," said an emotional Roberts.
"I went crazy then because it was my son who was shot so young and I was just beyond grateful that he miraculously survived.
"Now for him to be killed by the very same thing that he feared. I just can't seem to shake the feeling that the one thing that he feared, killed him."
According to Roberts, she believed her son was in the wrong place at the wrong time. "People said it was a case of mistaken identity but for me that doesn't sound right. If it was like that, then they wouldn't have shot him so many times.
"But it doesn't matter anymore because they've already killed him and now I'll have to live the rest of my life without my boy who I loved so dearly," Roberts added.
Dreyer's classmates, donning their matric jackets, gave him a fitting send-off while the school's brigade band marched in song for a "final salute".
His soccer team also showed up in their numbers for their "superstar player".
"It was a very sad day and I know the days after the funeral will be even harder as we still come to terms with Wakeel no longer being alive," added Roberts. "His final send-off was a blessed one and it moved me that so many people showed up and had such beautiful things to say about my boy," Roberts added.
The grieving mother said Dreyer had big post-matric plans as he wanted to pursue his dream of becoming an architect. "I'm broken. My whole life is shattered, nothing will ever be the same again. My boy was in the prime of his life and had so much going for him."
Meanwhile, the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) said Keanan Hendricks and Zane Adonis appeared in the Mitchells Plain Magistrate's Court in connection with Dreyer's murder last week.
"Their case has been postponed until 8 March for a bail application," said NPA spokesperson Eric Ntabazalila.
