The EFF welcomes the court verdict on the murder of the Diepsloot children

29 October 2014

The Economic Freedom Fighter welcomes the verdict of the North Gauteng High Court which has found Ntokozo Hadebe guilty following the kidnapping, rape and brutal murder of the five-year-old Anelisa Mkhonto in September last year, as well as two-year-old Yonalisa Mali and her cousin Zandile, in October last year. The EFF welcomes the verdict as a positive step towards the families of the families of the children and community of Diepsloot finding closure.

The court heard that Ntokozo Hadebe kidnapped the girls and took them to his shack in Diepsloot, north of Johannesburg, where he raped, sodomised, and suffocated or strangled them. He dumped Anelisa's body in a garbage bin and the bodies of the cousins in a public toilet.

According to the World Health Organisation, our country is one of the unsafest places on the planet for children. Murder, rape and neglect of children has become synonymous with many of our communities. This means we are a country that eats its children and neglect them, surrendering them to the predators who feed on their dignity, humanity and souls.

There are still many Ntokozo Hadebe's out there, who prey on our children daily, who create long lasting horrors in their imaginations, making them permanent prisoners of physical and psychological terror.

Our homes and communities which must serve as safe heavens for our children have become centres of terror and torture for them.

The EFF calls on the community of Diepsloot to find comfort in the verdict of the North Gauteng High Court. Furthermore, to continue working collectively to make the community a safe place for children.

May all South African communities join in collective efforts to read out country of the terrorism, abuse and murder of our children. A country that cannot safeguard the humanity and dignity of its children and youth, materially curses its future.

Statement issued by the Economic Freedom Fighters, October 29 2014

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