LEBOGANG SEALE
‘THEY killed my child. He was my only breadwinner, but these useless dogs killed him for nothing. They must rot in jail.”
These were the distraught words of the grandmother of one of the victims of a gang accused of robbing and raping residents of Freedom Park in Joburg – and she wept as she came face to face with the group in court yesterday.
As the 13 suspects appeared in the Protea Magistrate’s Court, it emerged that four others were arrested on Tuesday night – after three more people were robbed at the weekend.
The gangsters would attack their victims at dawn or late in the evening. They would hit them with golf clubs before robbing and often raping them.
They called themselves Sidl’abafazi abafileyo(a necrophiliac’s boast) and operated in a bushy area along a path residents used as a short cut to the Golden Highway.
The site, near the local Catholic church, is called Parliament, and the gang members call themselves MPs (members of parliament). They have a president and a deputy.
At least five people are said to have been killed and dozens of women raped during attacks spanning more than a year.
Yesterday, three of the gang’s alleged victims – Tamari Mnisi, 36, Dieketseng Moreki, 28, and Ntombi Magqirana, 31– sat in the front row of the court, hoping to catch a glimpse of their alleged assailants.
However, the women were ordered to leave the court shortly before proceedings began because an identity parade has yet to be held.
As they shuffled into the dock, the suspects – who include a 14-year-old boy – stole glances at the public gallery. The 14-year-old has turned State witness.
Wearing crumpled clothes, with a few tucking their beanies in their back pockets, they feigned lack of interest as the magistrate read out charges of murder, rape and robbery with aggravating circumstances.
As they were escorted back to the holding cells, some of the accused gesticulated to investigating officer Selaelo Ramabale, indicating that they wanted to speak to him.
The sight of the alleged murderers, who were being escorted back to holding cells, was too much for the relatives of some of their victims.
“They killed my son… Useless dogs… They don’t want to go to school or work...” cried Julia Msibi, the grandmother of Themba, 22, after the case was postponed.
Themba was beaten to death with a golf club after being ambushed last month.
The suspects have not been asked to plead and their case was postponed to December 9.