A 31 year old woman was sentenced to 15 years’ imprisonment by the Balfour Regional Court yesterday, 4 October 2018, for the murder of her two year old niece.
The court heard how Brenda Radebe would babysit the toddler for her sister while she (mother) had gone to work. On 24 July 2013, the child’s mother returned from work to find her daughter sleeping, but noticed that something was not right with her. She then asked her sister, the accused, if the child was sick or what. Radebe fabricated a story that another child hit the victim with a stone during the day.
The child’s mother then took her baby to the local clinic, where she was later transferred to Baragwanath hospital in Gauteng and she passed on the following day, 25 July 2013.
An inquest docket was then opened by the police, however, post mortem results revealed that the child had been severely injured from being assaulted, and hence the charge was changed to murder, leading to the arrest of the accused on 14 June 2016.
The accused was out on bail for the duration of the trial until the court found her guilty of murder yesterday, 4 October 2018.
The Provincial Commissioner of the Police in Mpumalanga, Lieutenant General Mondli Zuma said it was sad that such a young life had to be lost due to murder or child abuse. “I hope the sentence will serve as a warning to child abusers that the police and the courts of this country will definitely act against any abuser”, said General Zuma.
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