A Pretoria man allegedly stabbed and killed an 11-year old girl after her mother refused to hear a “message from God” he had for her.
Mongezi Chauke, 29, who is in the same prayer group with the mother of the slain child, briefly appeared in the Mamelodi magistrate’s court, east of Pretoria, yesterday, where his case was postponed to February 22 after he chose to abandon his bail application.
A small group of community members protested outside the court, demanding that the accused not be granted bail.
Kgothatso Tshabalala’s lifeless body was found with multiple stab wounds and her throat slashed last Tuesday.
Kgothatso’s mother, Nthabiseng Khanyi, 38, said trouble had begun when she refused to listen to Chauke, who apparently wanted to preach or deliver a message from God to her.
“He called me on Monday saying he had a message from God for me. I told him I was tired and would listen to the message the next day. He was very aggressive and angry,” Khanyi said.
She added: “I prayed with him [the accused] in our prayer group. People saw us together and assumed that I’m dating him and I was not.”
She said Chauke still came to her house the very same evening asking to speak with her. She still refused to give him an ear and he left.
However, Chauke returned the next day while the mother was at work and apparently disappeared with her daughter, who was later found stabbed to death.
Khanyi’s sister, Mahlodi Makwane, said they wanted justice to be served and the accused to rot in jail for “killing my niece like a dog”.
“I still don’t believed my little niece died a painful death like that and she died because the mother refused to listen to what was apparently a message from God,” Makwane said.
Makwane said Kgothatso was playing with her other sister when Chauke, who was well-known by their family, arrived and asked her to accompany him somewhere.
Chauke had regularly visited their home as he prayed with Khanyi and other community members.
The accused apparently refused that Kgothatso’s younger sister accompany them.
“My other niece came to my house and asked about her sister and if she had come to my place because I don’t stay far from them... I started to make phone calls to relatives but without success. No one had seen her,” said Makwane.
When Kgothatso’s mother returned from work she gathered a search party made up of neighbours. Kgothatso's body was later found lying in a pool of blood in a shack nearby.
“I was terrified to see my little niece in that way and I’m still not okay. Every time I close my eyes I still see her,” said Makwane.
Khanyi said she had known Chauke for only about three months and that was after a group of locals had formed a prayer group since churches were not operating during lockdown.
