“It highlights the urgent need for swift action from the law enforcement to bring perpetrators to book. The full might of the law must be demonstrated to ensure justice for the victims and their families,” said Lamola.
According to police, the suspects behind the killing of Mashaba sisters were after their father who was not home during the incident. The girls’ mother Itumeleng Mashaba told this newspaper that she heard the killer telling her daughters that they would die because their father loved money.
The motive behind the siblings’ killing is still unknown but according to Itumeleng, their father was a member of a crime-fighting forum which she said has been hijacked to extort money from residents and shop owners.
Whatever the reason behind the attack may be, nothing can justify the wanton killing of vulnerable and innocent children. Such is the state of crime in our country that criminals now target children and kill them in cold blood.
Our communities working with law enforcement must do more to ensure that the safety of children comes first. The concern in Soshanguve is that the siblings’ killings happened soon after the community bemoaned increasing levels of crime and shootings in the area which they pleaded with the authorities to deal with.
Their pleas seem to have fallen on deaf ears despite promises made by politicians ahead of elections that they would do something. While there have been arrests in the case of Ditebogo’s murder, police are still searching for the killers of the Mashaba siblings.
Strengthening policing in Soshanguve and other areas plagued by crime must be one of the priorities of the next government to ensure safety of all and in particular children.
SOWETAN SAYS | Prioritise the safety of children
Image: ANTONIO MUCHAVE
The horror killing of two siblings Mfumo and Tinyiko Mashaba in their home in Soshanguve last week has again brought into sharp focus the violence bedevilling our society and the danger for children.
The Mashaba siblings were the latest victims of shootings in the area after five-year-old Ditebogo Junior Phalane was also shot during a hijacking incident.
Both these cases of murders of children are alarming and abhorrent.
Justice and correctional services minister Ronald Lamola said it was unconscionable that such horrific incidents occurred during Child Protection Week.
“It highlights the urgent need for swift action from the law enforcement to bring perpetrators to book. The full might of the law must be demonstrated to ensure justice for the victims and their families,” said Lamola.
According to police, the suspects behind the killing of Mashaba sisters were after their father who was not home during the incident. The girls’ mother Itumeleng Mashaba told this newspaper that she heard the killer telling her daughters that they would die because their father loved money.
The motive behind the siblings’ killing is still unknown but according to Itumeleng, their father was a member of a crime-fighting forum which she said has been hijacked to extort money from residents and shop owners.
Whatever the reason behind the attack may be, nothing can justify the wanton killing of vulnerable and innocent children. Such is the state of crime in our country that criminals now target children and kill them in cold blood.
Our communities working with law enforcement must do more to ensure that the safety of children comes first. The concern in Soshanguve is that the siblings’ killings happened soon after the community bemoaned increasing levels of crime and shootings in the area which they pleaded with the authorities to deal with.
Their pleas seem to have fallen on deaf ears despite promises made by politicians ahead of elections that they would do something. While there have been arrests in the case of Ditebogo’s murder, police are still searching for the killers of the Mashaba siblings.
Strengthening policing in Soshanguve and other areas plagued by crime must be one of the priorities of the next government to ensure safety of all and in particular children.
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