This is the moment a child no older than eight years old is filmed driving off at speed down a suburban street in his dad’s Land Rover as onlookers gasp in shock.

The footage begins by showing the young child in the driver’s seat, with an old man saying the situation is “ridiculous”.

He adds: “He can hardly see over the steering wheel.”

As he finishes speaking, the child, who local media said looked to be no older than eight years old, starts the engine, with the old man saying that he will get into his car and that the young boy should wait.

Other adults can be seen standing around while someone asks the boy: “Your father gave you the car?”

The young boy reportedly answered “my father”, according to local media.

The young boy can then be seen taking off at speed down the road as the people watching gasp in shock and laugh nervously.

The incident reportedly took place in Vereeniging, a town located in Gauteng Province, in South Africa.

Some netizens found the video amusing, but many others were reportedly outraged after it notched up tens of thousands of views on a number of social media platforms.

Johannesburg Metropolitan Police Department (JMPD) spokesperson Xolani Fihla is quoted in local media as saying that the parent of any child driving on a public road would be prosecuted.

They said: “Children between 8 and 14 years are presumed to not commit offences knowingly, and a court would normally only prosecute the parent.”

Fihla added that children under the age of 10 cannot be arrested.

They explained: “This means that a child under 10 years does not have criminal capacity and cannot be charged or arrested for an offence. In such a case, the child will be referred to the Children’s Court.”

The police are reportedly investigating the incident. It was unclear at the time of writing if they had made any arrests.