Angry Soweto residents hunt for girl’s killer

The murder of a five-year-old girl has enraged the community of Orlando East in Soweto, some of whom went from house to house searching for her killer yesterday.

Amantle Samane’s half-naked body was found in an empty shack two streets away from her home on Monday.

Suspect rapes and kills girl

SA Police Service Lieutenant-Colonel Mavela Masondo said police were looking for the man accused of killing the girl.

“The girl was playing with other children when the suspect called her to his rented shack at one of the houses in Orlando.

“The suspect allegedly raped and killed the girl inside the shack. The matter was reported to the police, who immediately started searching for the suspect, who is on the run.”

According to a relative, Matlhogonolo Samane, the Grade R pupil was last seen playing outside her yard on Monday when her mother went to the shops.

“The mother came to my house asking if Amantle was with us, but we hadn’t seen her. Some people said they saw her sitting alone, but we couldn’t find her,” Samane said.

A frantic search ensued, with neighbours helping the family to look for the little girl.

“Someone eventually said they had seen her with this person. We went to where he lives, he wasn’t there, just Amantle’s body.

“She was lying on the cold floor, one leg covered and the other exposed. When we checked her pulse, she wasn’t responding,” Samane said.

“We tried to wake her, but it was too late. The police and ambulance came and she was declared dead on the scene.”

Samane said the body had bruises on the neck, indicating she had been strangled.

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Suspect is known to the community

The man who allegedly killed Amantle is known in the community and is believed to be originally from Mozambique.

Mandoza Masanabo, one of the owners of the property where the man lives, said they were shocked and had heard nothing unusual.

“We were inside our shack. We usually hear when he opens the door but yesterday it was quiet.

“It wasn’t until a group of boys came looking for him that we went to his shack and we saw her body on the floor. We broke the door down with an axe, but she was already dead,” he said.

The suspect had been renting the shack for five months.

Masanabo said: “He seemed quiet, friendly, always going to work. We’re horrified because if no-one had seen them or found her, we might only have discovered her body from the smell, or he could’ve buried her and we wouldn’t have known.”

Some community members went door-to-door, searching for the man.

Mangaliso Xaba, a community activist, expressed frustration: “We are angry at the brutality of this crime.

“The police should have launched a manhunt within 15 minutes of the report. Instead, the community had to act on its own.”

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