Latest news with #ProteaMagistrate'sCourt
IOL News
3 days ago
- IOL News
South Africa, you have blood on your hands
Enough of the excuses. Enough of the failures. Enough of the empty promises, says Visvin Reddy. Image: Pixabay/File A four-year-old girl has been murdered. Not by a stranger in a dark alley. Not by some faceless predator. But by the very people who were supposed to love and protect her – allegedly her own parents. She died in a hospital bed, her small body broken, her innocence stolen, just hours after her parents appeared in the Protea Magistrate's Court. Her father stands accused of rape and murder. Her mother stands accused of allowing this evil to happen. And we, South Africa, stand accused of letting it get this far. Where were we when she needed us? Don't pretend you didn't hear the cries - because they weren't just hers. They were the cries of thousands of abused children across our country whose pleas for help are drowned out by the noise of corruption, political games, and a society too numb to care until it's too late. This child's death is not an isolated tragedy - it is a mirror held up to our collective rot. Where were the neighbours? The teachers? The clinic nurses? The social workers? The police? Where were you? We have become a country where people look away, where child protection services are underfunded, understaffed, and overwhelmed. And because of that cowardice and neglect, a little girl has paid with her life. Video Player is loading. Play Video Play Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration -:- Loaded : 0% Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. 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Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Next Stay Close ✕ No mercy for the guilty Let's be clear: If found guilty, the father and mother of this child do not deserve mercy. They do not deserve excuses. They deserve the harshest punishment our laws allow. Life sentences without parole should be the starting point - not the exception. And to the justice system: spare us the delays, the procedural games, the endless remands. South Africa has watched too many child-killers and child-rapists walk free on 'technicalities.' If the courts fail here, they will be complicit in telling every predator in this country: 'You can get away with it.' Five immediate actions we must take If this country is serious about protecting children, here's what must happen - now: 1. Mandatory, enforced reporting Every teacher, nurse, doctor, neighbour - anyone - who suspects abuse must report it immediately. Failure to do so should result in jail time. 2. Special child Protection Courts Dedicated courts to handle cases of child abuse and sexual violence, ensuring they are prioritised, fast-tracked, and handled by trained prosecutors. 3. Fully funded social services We can't keep paying ministers millions while social workers carry 150 cases each. Fund them properly or admit you don't care about our children. 4. Community child watch networks Every ward, every street committee, every church, mosque, and temple must set up a child safety network. We need eyes and ears in every neighbourhood. 5. National registry of child abusers Accessible to schools, creches, and the public—because predators hide in plain sight, often moving to new areas to start again. Stop the politician's tears When the cameras roll, the politicians will come with their crocodile tears and their promises of 'an investigation.' Save it. We've heard it all before. Remember Baby Daniel? Courtney Pieters? The countless other children whose names never made the news? Where are their justice reforms? Where is the political will? It is not enough to mourn the dead while doing nothing to protect the living. The truth is simple: children in South Africa are not safe, and they will never be safe until protecting them becomes a national emergency, not an afterthought. A challenge to every South African This is not just the government's problem - it's our problem. You see bruises on a child? Speak. You hear screaming in the night? Call the police. You suspect abuse? Report it and follow up. Silence is complicity. Looking away is aiding the abuser. If you did nothing when you could have acted, you share the guilt. She deserved better At four years old, she should have been learning to draw, to sing, to play in the sun - not fighting for her life in a hospital bed after unimaginable violence. She should have been loved. She should have been safe. She should have grown up. But she never got the chance - because a country that boasts about its Constitution and 'child rights' couldn't protect her when it mattered. Let this be the last time If her death does not change us - if it does not shake us from our complacency - then she will have died for this be the case that forces South Africa to finally say: enough. Enough of the excuses. Enough of the failures. Enough of the empty promises. The blood of this little girl is on the hands of her killers - but it stains all of us if we do nothing. May her name be remembered not just in grief, but in action. May every child after her live in a country where monsters are stopped before they strike. And may we never again have to write another editorial like this. Visvin Reddy Image: Tumi Pakkies/ Independent Newspapers Visvin Reddy is an uMkhonto weSizwe Party (MKP) MP and writes in his personal capacity ** The views expressed do not necessarily reflect the views of IOL or Independent Media. THE POST
IOL News
4 days ago
- IOL News
Eldorado couple faces court for the rape and murder of their four-year-old daughter as NPA plans to oppose bail
A couple appeared before the Protea Magistrates' Court following the rape and death of their four-year-old child. A couple appeared in the Protea Magistrate's Court in Soweto, Johannesburg on Tuesday following the rape and death of their four-year-old daughter. The father was charged with murder, rape, compelled rape, child abuse and assault, whilst the mother of the deceased was charged on a separate docket, with failure to immediately report a sexual offence against a minor child. National Prosecuting Authority spokesperson, Phindi Mjonondwane, said a neighbour heard the child screaming from the couple's home and, on arrival, found the father allegedly beating the child and captured the incident on a phone. "Following further investigations, the mother was also arrested. It is alleged that the mother knew about the sexual assault but failed to report to the authorities, as per duty in terms of the Sexual Offences and Related Matters Amendment Act 32 of 2007," said Mjonondwane. According to police, the man was arrested on Wednesday, August 6, 2025 after officers responded to reports of screams coming from a backyard shack. Inside the home, police discovered the young girl with severe head injuries, bruises, and a swollen eye.
