Murdered Tazne van Wyk will get a proper funeral, says mayor at night vigil

A night vigil was held in Elsies River, Cape Town, for slain Tazne van Wyk on Thursday evening.

The eight-year-old girl went missing two weeks ago after she was last seen walking to a tuck shop near her home.

Hundreds of Connaught Estate residents huddled together in front of the little girl’s family home in Clare Street to remember the life that was.

The Van Wyk family were left reeling after news broke that Tazne’s lifeless body was found in a stormwater pipe just outside Worcester, an hour away from her home.

Tazne’s friends sang along as praise and worship singers opened the event.

Cape Town mayor Dan Plato also attended the vigil and joined mourners.

“When I heard the news of the death, I was shocked. I was grief-stricken. Another child that has lost her life. Where will it end?” the mayor asked.

Plato urged residents to step up their efforts to curb gender-based violence.

“The police can’t be on every corner. We have a responsibility to sound the alarm if we see anything suspicious,” Plato said.

“We need to unite against all the evils in our community,” he added.

The mayor promised the Van Wyk family that he would do what he could to make sure that Tazne got the funeral she deserved.

“I don’t want the family to run around. I don’t want the family to worry about anything. From my office, we will do what we need to do to make sure that she has a proper funeral,” Plato said.

Moyhdian Pangarker was arrested in the Eastern Cape and briefly appeared on a kidnapping charge in the Cradock Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday before being transported back to Cape Town.

Pangarker appeared in the Goodwood Magistrate’s Court in Cape Town on Friday morning.

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