Cape Town – While Cape Town grapples with the murders of two little girls in less than two weeks and another girl going missing, forensic pathologists shockingly revealed that in the past six months, they investigated 193 cases involving children and teens, 86 of which were homicides.
Just this week, 18-year-old Mikaeel Oliver made a chilling confession in court while charged with the murder of 11-year-old Monneashia Prins.
Monneashia, from Ithemba Farms informal settlement, went missing on February 9 and was last seen allegedly walking with Oliver: her neighbour.
The child’s body was found a day after she vanished, hidden in a canal.
This week the search continues for Joshlin Smith, 6, from Saldanha on the West Coast, last seen on February 19.
She had been left at home with her mother’s boyfriend due to being ill. When the mother returned from work, her daughter was not there.
A massive search is under way. On January 30, Firdous Kleinsmidt, 12, who was in Grade 7 at Ieglaasi Nieyah Primary School in Mitchells Plain, was shot and killed while waiting for her scholar transport.
Lorenzo Brown is facing a charge of murder for this and the State revealed he also had a previous case of murder provisionally withdrawn in 2022.
Megan Davids, communications officer: emergency and clinical services support, Department of Health and Wellness, explained that their forensic department had said: “Our primary function is cause of death determination, but we continue to support and promote interventions to impact child deaths through pivotal collaborations.
“Over the past six months, the Western Cape Department of Health and Wellness Forensic Pathology Services recorded 523 tragic deaths involving children (infants to 17 years old).
“Accidents, homicide, suicide, and sudden unexpected death in infancy (Sudi) were among the circumstance of death. A number of deaths are currently still under investigation.
“This is due to additional investigation required to inform the final cause of death determination.”
She tabled the following: accidents: 88 deaths; homicide: 86 deaths; suicide: 18 deaths; road traffic incidents: 65 deaths; Sudi: 8 deaths; natural causes: 65 deaths; and, under investigation: 193 deaths.
Weekend Argus approached Children’s Commissioner Christina Nomdo’s office for comment but they said they were not in a position to comment until they could contact the head of department.
Siya Monakali, of Ilitha Labantu, which advocates for the rights of women and children, said they were deeply concerned about the latest data which also reflected the crime situation in the province, fuelled by socio-economic circumstances.
“The information provided by the Western Cape Department of Health and Wellness Forensic Pathology Services paints just a limited picture of the current crisis facing children in South Africa.
“This comes in light of the recently released crime statistics for the reporting period of October and December 2023, which revealed that 285 children were murdered, and (there were) 426 attempted murder cases during that 90-day period,” he added.
“Violence in South Africa has reached incomprehensible scales and the most vulnerable members of society (children) suffer the most.
“This violence is exacerbated by the worsening of social conditions like poverty and unemployment which has a direct bearing on the lives of children.
“When we look at violence and oppression, we see children who come from communities with high rates of poverty, unemployment and lack of adequate resources suffer the most.
“We strongly believe more needs to be done to improve the status of children in our society through meaningful collaboration between government, the private sector and civil society.”