The justice system must show no mercy to people who abuse and kill children. This was said over the weekend by the Minister of Women, Children and People with Disabilities, Ms Lulu Xingwana at the sod-turning ceremony of Masego Kgomo Memorial Park in Soshanguve.
“By giving women and child abusers harsher sentences, our courts will send a message to these abusers that their actions will not be tolerated. Those who commit atrocities and murders against deserve no mercy from our criminal justice system. They must rot in jail. They must never be allowed to share the same spaces with our children, nor must they be allowed to roam our streets”.
Minister Xingwana made this statement on the eve of the sentencing of Brian Mangwale, who was found guilty of the brutal murder of Masego Kgomo by the North Gauteng High Court. He will be sentenced on tomorrow (Monday). “I have made a special plea, on behalf of Masego Kgomo and many other children, that the court should impose the heaviest possible punishment”.
She added: “In memory of Masego Kgomo and many other children who perished in the hands of these criminals, we must move with speed to put these murderers behind bars. As we do so, we must also focus our attention to those who claim to be sangomas who pay for the body parts of our children. The law must be equally harsh on them. I urge real sangomas to take a stand and expose those who trade with the bodies of our children”.
Minister Xingwana said that the Masego Kgomo Memorial Park would send a message that the memory of Masego Kgomo lives on and that society’s collective resolve to fight the scourge of child abuse and killings remains firm and unshaken.
“Today’s sod-turning reaffirms our commitment to reclaim our streets and create a society that is safe and secure for our children. This memorial park must be a monument of our collective efforts to defeat child abuse and child mutilations. Masego Kgomo Memorial Park must remain a permanent reminder of how cruel some adults can be to our children”.
“We are here to make a clear and unambiguous statement that the barbaric actions of child and women abusers have no place in our free and democratic society. The scourge of child and women abuse threatens to erode many of the hard-earned gains of the liberation struggle. Child and women abuse deny women and children their birth rights. It condemns them to a life of fear and prevents them from being productive members of society.
The Minister said: “Women and children long for the day when they can walk the streets without fear of being raped or brutally assaulted. They long for a day when they can walk the streets without having to look behind them to see who is following them. They long for a day when society will protect them against sexual molesters”.
Masego Kgomo, a ten year-old girl from Soshanguve, was brutally murdered two years ago. Her badly decomposed and mutilated body was found in a field between Soshanguve station and Soshanguve hostel. Minister Xingwana will be at the North Gauteng High Court (Pretoria) tomorrow where her murderer will be sentenced.
The Minister has urged all people and their organised formations to work with government to help fight the scourge of women and child abuse. “As government, we have introduced effective laws and policies that help the fight against women and child abuse. We are making a call to civil society and ordinary citizens to play their part”.
Enquiries:
Cornelius Tanana Monama
Tel: 082 578 4063
