The boy (17), whose parents requested he be kept anonymous, was assaulted in plain view of shocked bystanders.

In what seems to be a case of road rage, a man driving an Audi followed a boy on a bike after he drove in front of his car as he was about to pull away at a robot.

Eyewitnesses told how the man followed the boy on the bike down Walter Sisulu Street and cut him off at a petrol station. The driver of the car got out and hit the boy with such force that he fell off his bike, his head hitting the sidewalk, before getting back in his vehicle and speeding off.

One of the witnesses managed to write down the number plate before the car disappeared.

He was admitted with a concussion and bleeding in the brain. The boy was discharged into the care of his parents after spending a night in hospital where he was checked every two hours to make sure his condition does not become life threatening.

He still suffers from memory loss, which doctors told his parents was a direct symptom of the injuries he sustained.

• Kenneth Hanekom handed himself over to police on Thursday morning in connection with the assault. He appeared in court hours later.

•Another story in connection with the assault appears on page three of todays newspaper.