SOMBRE moment creep in at a funeral of a six year-old boy, Kutlwano Garesape who was murdered last week Friday in Jan Kempdorp while trying to protect his mother from being raped.
Kutlwano Garesape who was a pupil at Tau Dia Rora Primary School in Jan Kempdorp was buried at Manthe village, Taung on Saturday. He was allegedly walking to school along with his brother, Thabiso, 8 and his mother, Segomotso.
They allegedly came across a suspect, Tesele Dikole, 32 who demanded money from them. Segomotso said the suspect allegedly produced a bottle and tried to rape her after she did not have money.
“The suspect threatened me with a bottle and attempted to rape me. Kutlwano intervened and the suspect stabbed him. He also tossed Kutlwano’s body in the air and dropped him. The suspect threw Kutlwano’s lifeless body on the railway tracks afterwards,” Segomotso said.
Family spokesperson, Lebogang Garesape said what happened to their child was despicable. Garesape said the atrocity affected the family because his killing was senseless and brutal.
“We are reeling in shock as the family. We cannot believe our son was killed in that despicable manner. He was so young and energetic. We expected a lot from him as the parents. However, we believe that God will give us strength to deal with his untimely.
“Men need to protect women and children. But what happened clearly shows that we still have a long way to go as the country. We believe that the suspect will be punished for his heinous crime and the pain he caused this family,” Garesape said.
Northern Cape MEC of transport, safety and liaison, Pauline Williams said what happened to Kutlwano was bizarre. Williams said the incident was a metaphor of what kind of society the country is living in.
“We are very touched by the death of a young, vibrate and energetic boy. He showed bravery and protected his mother from being hurt. We need to learn from Kutlwano’s life and get inspired. He is a young hero who put his tiny body in line to protect his family. We believe justice will take its cause and the perpetrator will be punished,” Williams said.
MEC for education in Northern Cape, Martha Bartlett shared the same sentiments. Bartlett said the heinous crimes needed to be rooted out within the society. She urged community members to stand against criminal activities.
“We need to do introspection as the society. We cannot allow things like these to prevail amongst us. The perpetrator needs to be harshly punished. He robbed us the future leader and our hero.
“Men need to be protectors and providers, not monsters. We need to address women and children abuse issue once and for all. We cannot allow incidents like this to deter our meeting with destiny. Children go to school to be nourished and nurtured to become better persons. However, criminals continue to rob us young talents because of their greediness and selfishness,” Bartlett said.
Operation Wanya Tsotsi chairperson, Pantsi Obusitse said: “We will make sure that the criminal is removed from our society. We must not be apologetic about that. We need to fight crime and I also urge politicians to be part of the fight. Lets us use the same energy we injected during local government elections to fight crime.
“The atrocity cannot be explained and we should be ashamed as a country. We need to honour Kutlwano and take a stern look at ourselves. We cannot let the country be terrorised by criminals and rob us our future leaders because of their senseless thinking.”
Dikole will be back in Jan Kempdorp Magistrate Court on Monday facing murder and attempted rape. He will also apply for a formal bail application.
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