Protest held after second Diepsloot child’s death
DIEPSLOOT – After the death of a six-year-old Diepsloot boy, a peaceful protest called for the safety of the informal settlement's children.
A group of peaceful protesters descended on the Diepsloot Police Station on 22 August to call for more to be done to keep the children of the township safe.
This comes after the death of six-year-old Ngwako Mashau, who was last seen alive on 13 August playing with a ball in his family’s yard in Ext 1 while his mother was indoors. It is believed that he left the area to follow one of his friends and disappeared.
He was reported as missing to the police on 14 August but despite a large-scale search by both police and the community, his remains were only found in a nearby stream on 16 August.
According to a police statement, he was believed to have had some form of mental disability and while the exact cause of his death is not yet known, his body had no visible injuries when it was discovered. Police are still investigating his death.
“We wanted to hold a peaceful protest near the Diepsloot Police Station to urge the police and the community to protect the children of Diepsloot,” said Mpumi Mndaweni of the National Children and Violence Trust (NCVT), which organised the protest on 22 August.
“The purpose of today is for us to talk to the police. We know that they are doing their best to serve the community and we want to stand with them to care for the children,” said Judith Mthombeni, a senior social worker with the NCVT, who led the demonstration.
“The community needs to be vigilant and report any suspicious behaviour that they see in the area. We need parents to care for their children. We also want to say to the police that we care here, what can we do to help.
“If you kill the future, who is the future?”
Colonel Motome Mohale, in charge of Visible Policing at the Diepsloot station, accepted the protester’s memorandum on behalf of the police and addressed the crowd.
“We will go through this memorandum, and then we will engage with the community and stakeholders on how to improve the lives of the little ones here in Diepsloot. Each and every day someone is reported missing at the station.”
Ngwako Mashau’s death is the second incident involving a child in the area in two months. On 10 July the body of 14-year-old Happy Khanyile was found in the township, in a field near the Jukskei River. The teenager had been beaten, raped and mutilated, and no arrests have yet been made.
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Also check out:
IN TWEETS: Another child dies in Diepsloot, community stages peaceful protest
https://www.citizen.co.za/fourways-review/285705/tweets-fourways-review-attends-funeral-diepsloot-girl-raped-mutilated-murdered-earlier-week/
