Many residents expressed shock, disbelief and outrage this week after a Welverdiend resident was taken into custody for raping and murdering his baby daughter.
The police arrested the father (36) on charges of rape and murder on Friday, 9 June.
The man had reportedly taken the fully-clothed eight-day-old baby girl from her mother (37) and exited the back room they had rented the day before.
When he returned sometime later, the child was naked and injured. The mother went to the woman living in the main house on the property and showed her the injured baby.
The woman phoned an ambulance and the police.
The ambulance transported the baby to Carletonville Hospital, where she died the following morning.
The father appeared in the Oberholzer Magistrate’s Court on Monday, and the Herald learnt he had already confessed to the crime.
According to sources, he has had several clashes with the law for various crimes in the past.
The little body underwent a post-mortem in Carletonville on Tuesday.
Several residents expressed horror at the crime and asked on social media whether it was preventable.
“Maybe we are all guilty because we knew the situation at this household but did not act earlier.
“Maybe we could have saved her,” one resident commented.
“We never received complaints that this child was mistreated or in danger, otherwise, we would have stepped in and removed her,” says the senior social worker at the SAVF in Carletonville, Ms Lin-Claire van Wyk. Welverdiend falls under the jurisdiction of this organisation for social services.
She noted that the death was even more devastating because it happened during Child Protection Week, celebrated annually to raise awareness of children’s rights.
Van Wyk called on members of the public who know about mistreated children to immediately notify the organisation by calling their offices at 018 786 1016/8 or contacting them on their Facebook page Savf Carletonville.
The public can also report such situations at clinics or the SAPS.
According to Section 54 of the Sexual Offences Act of 2003, the public is obligated to report sexual offences against children or mentally disabled persons.
The national childcare activist, Terry Ann Terblanche, also known as Pixie Pink Victim’s Advocate, raised further attention on her Facebook page.
Since the man is accused of a sexual crime, his name may not be published until he has officially pleaded to the crime, as per Section 154(2)(b) of the Criminal Procedure Act (51 of 1977).
However, a Cape Town activist, Caroline Peters, is challenging the law that prevents publicly naming someone accused of rape or other sexual offences before they have pleaded.
The matter has yet to be settled.
