Action Society visited the bereaved family of Bakgoba Poo – the murdered four-year-old girl from Benoni – and offered to assist with the investigation and do case oversight.
“What happened to Bakgoba is atrocious, and we will do everything in our power to help the family find justice,” said Tshepi Mmekwa, Action Centre coordinator at Action Society. “The community says that children are not safe in their area.”
Bakgoba is the latest victim of a spate of child murders which shocked the country recently. According to reports, three children are murdered daily in South Africa – 549 in the first half of this year.
The man accused of murdering Bakgoba was out on bail for the rape of a nine-year-old girl when he allegedly kidnapped, raped, murdered and mutilated her. According to the community, he distracted her friend by giving him money to go and buy sweets, and when he came back, Bakgoba was gone. Bakgoba’s mutilated body was found the day after she disappeared but only positively identified this week.
“The DNA backlog, delay in taking DNA samples of convicted offenders and the non-existing National Register of Sex Offenders all contributed to the death of Bakgoba and most of the 548 other children murdered this year,” said Mmekwa. “Action Society will be lobbying for a change in procedure regarding sex offenders. No one with a previous conviction or pending case of a sexual offence against them should be allowed to be released on bail.”
