Man arrested for attempted murder of girlfriend’s child in Mamelodi

A 31-year-old man has been arrested for attempted murder after allegedly cutting an eight-year-old’s throat in front of her grandmother in Mamelodi last Sunday.

The 31-year-old man from Section A in Mamelodi East made his first appearance at the Mamelodi Magistrates’ Court, on Friday.

According to the NPA, the suspect and the girl’s mother, who are in a relationship, attended a funeral where an argument broke between them.

The following day while the mother of the minor had gone to a nearby car wash, the accused went to a house where she stayed to try and work things out. When he arrived, he found the minor with her grandmother.

“It is alleged that the accused took a butcher knife he found in the kitchen and slit the throat of the minor. The mother of the victim heard screams of her mother and quickly rushed home, took her injured child and rushed her to a nearby hospital,” said the NPA.

The child is currently in Intensive Care Unit (ICU).

The accused was arrested after he handed himself over to the police at Hammanskraal Police Station under a false charge of assault.

The matter has been postponed to 05 May 2022 for a formal bail application.

In a separate matter in Gqeberha, a 22-year-old Bethelsdorp man was on Monday sentenced in the Gqeberha Regional court for rape, kidnapping and assault of two women in 2018.

According to Col Priscilla Naidu, on 9 July 2018, Renaldo Boesak (18 at the time) was drinking with the two victims and friends at a house in 7de Laan in Booyesens Park, then took the victims aged 22 and 25 years old to a caravan which was situated in the same yard.

He threatened them with a firearm and was accused of also firing shots in the yard. Both women were raped. The 22-year-old victim was also assaulted with the firearm.

On 13 July 2018, Boesak was arrested and remained in custody until the finalisation of his case.

On 25 April 2022, he was sentenced to life imprisonment on both rape charges, 10 years for two charges of kidnapping and 6 months for assault. The kidnapping and the assault convictions will run concurrent with the life sentence.