By Linda Pona
Shock, anger, hurt, and betrayal come to mind when we first learn that the case of Mbali, who was three years old at the time of her death in 2022, was closed nine months later because there were no leads. The system has failed Mbali.
Grocott’s Mail first reported on the cruel manner in which a three-year-old girl, sleeping in her home, was raped and murdered and whose body was discovered in the early hours of the morning. Suspects were found, and DNA results were conducted, yet no one is facing charges for the murder.
The mother of the slain child was asked to sign a document, in a public place, by the detective responsible for the case. Little did she know that she was acknowledging that less than nine months after her daughter’s murder, the investigation was closed.
First, her daughter’s murder and now the insensitive manner in which she found out the case was closed merely nine months after she was killed. This is a fact that I learned from Ovayo Novukela, the Grocott’s Mail journalist who initially reported on the case when he received a call from the slain child’s neighbour, telling him about the incident that had occurred.
“We have to go to Alicedale,” Ovayo said. I agreed.
In our visit to Alicedale on Thursday this week, Ovayo met with Mbali’s parents, community members and the task team that was responsible for liaising with the police on the matter. As reported by Ovayo, the community wants a proper investigation conducted and the police to serve the community. I couldn’t agree more.
Our society is too violent, and statistics show that 42,289 rapes were reported between 2019 and 2020. Additionally, Police Minister Beki Cele said that 855 women and 243 children were killed in South Africa from April to June 2022. With these shocking statistics, little is done about rape and murder, especially of women and children. This is evident in Mbali’s case and many others like it because we also learned in Alicedale that those who want to come forward and bring the murderer to justice are too scared to come forward and name the killer. As a result of this, he remains free to walk around and allegedly claims more victims.
The Alicedale community, Ovayo and myself are outraged, and we believe justice should be served. “I want stakeholders to be more involved in the town, and the police must be more visible,” said Ovayo when I asked him about his thoughts. The broken community calls on Bheki Cele to do more about the carelessness in which violent crimes are handled in the community, which in itself needs to come forward and report on cases without fear of repercussions.
Let us not forget that a child’s innocence was taken away, she was murdered, and her killer was not found. Let us not forget Mbali’s name, especially not until her murderer has been brought to justice.
