THE ANC in the Free State has expressed outrage in the face of the latest spate of killings of women and children in separate incidents around the province.
The party vented after the lifeless body of 16-year-old Machaka Radebe was discovered in an open field in Bloemspruit, Bloemfontein, in the early hours of Monday morning.
She had been reported missing after she was last seen leaving her family home in the nearby Rocklands township on Saturday.
On Tuesday, an eight-year-old girl was discovered lying dead in an open field in Lindley, a small farming town in the eastern region of the province.
On 28 November, Bainsvlei Combined School teacher Khethiwe Nkambule, aged 48, was found murdered in the vicinity of South Park Cemetery in Bloemfontein.
In another gruesome case, residents of Thaba Nchu were left reeling in shock after four-year-old Amogelang Finger’s lifeless body was found stuffed in a bucket on the family’s property in Selosesha on 11 October.
In the meantime, the search is still on for Lesego Mamello Motaung (22) and Lerato Masiu (23) from Bloemfontein who were reported missing on 30 October and 16 November respectively in separate cases of suspected kidnapping.
“These are but some of the nauseating cases of violence perpetrated against women and children,” ANC Free State provincial secretary Polediso Motsoeneng said in a statement released on Tuesday.
“The African National Congress in the Free State province is enraged by the senseless and vicious attacks perpetrated against women and children in our province.
“We are further incensed that these barbaric and callous crimes happened at this particular period, when the country is observing the 16 Days of No Violence Against Women and Children.
“The perpetrators of these heinous crimes have demonstrated defiance against what we stand for as a province, key amongst them being peace and have effectively declared war against the ANC-led government.”
Motsoeneng said the ANC will not stand idle and watch violence against women and children gaining prominence.
“The ANC in the Free State has instructed its capable deployee, Comrade MaQueen Letsoha-Mathae, at the Department of Community Safety, Roads and Transport, to appoint her most experienced detectives to hunt and bring to book criminals responsible for these heinous crimes,” he said.
“The African National Congress further wishes to assure the people of the Free State that we will never sit idle by while criminals are running amok and the women and the children of our province are under siege.” – Staff Reporter