Children killed despite 16 Days of Activism

While the country is celebrating 16 Days of Activism against Gender Based Violence, the abuse of women and children continues in Limpopo with the killing of two boys in Ga-Chuene being the most recent.
Provincial Police Spokesperson Moatshe Ngoepe said the Police are investigating the two cases of murder following the death of Petrus Shoka (7) and Samuel Ngobeni (10) in Thokgoaneng Village, Ga-Chuene.
“It is alleged that the children went missing on 28 November after they were last seen playing along one of the streets in the village at about 16:00. A search was launched by various Police units with no success until last Thursday evening. Both bodies were found in a pool of water among bushes outside the village,” Ngoepe said. Both had sustained multiple head injuries.
The motive behind this brutal killing is unknown but Police apprehended a man suspected to be a close relative and three local sangomas aged 25, 46 and 39 for questioning. The sangomas have since been released while the remaining suspect is expected to appear in the Polokwane Magistrate’s Court on Monday. Investigations continue.
Provincial Police Commissioner Nneke Ledwaba has welcomed the sentencing of two suspects to 15 years and three times life imprisonment respectively last week.
A 54-year-old man was sentenced to three life terms last Tuesday by the Thohoyandou Magistrate’s Court for the rape of his eight-year-old nephew in August last year.
Ngoepe said the nephew stayed with the accused in the same house on 22, 23 and 28 August last year while the wife of the accused was absent. The victim was repeatedly raped during the three days and the ordeal was revealed days later.
The Lenyenye Regional Court also sentenced Evens Mashele from Khopo Village to 15 years behind bars for the rape of his ex-girlfriend in June.
Ledwaba condemned the senseless and barbaric killing of young and innocent children. “The Provincial Commissioner has requested family members and members of the community to give the Police space so that the real truth can come out. The arrested suspects are still going through processes of investigation,” Ngoepe said.
He welcomed the sentences and said it will send a strong message to all perpetrators of similar crimes that crime does not pay,” Ledwaba said.
Read the interview with Petrus’s mother elsewhere.

Story: RC Myburgh
>>rc.observer@gmail.com