A man accused of the rape and murder of 11-year-old Stacha Arendse made his first appearance in the Mitchells Plain Magistrates Court on Friday, and is scheduled to reappear in court on Monday. Randy Tango was taken into custody shortly after the child’s body was found in Tafelsig on Tuesday morning. In anticipation of the young girl’s funeral, which is set to take place on Tuesday, community members came out in anger, calling for the courts to deny the suspect bail.
Last week, cops were called out to guard the house of the suspect, after an angry mob tried to burn the structure down. Police opened fire with rubber bullets in a bid to disperse the crowd in Tafelsig.
This as similar scenes in Lavender Hill played out after the arrest of a man in connection with the murder of 13-year-old Rene Tracey Roman, the week before.
While there has been an overwhelming sense of anger following the recent spate of murders, residents are urged to continue to respect the course of law.
Chairperson of the Mitchells Plain Community Police Forum, Abie Isaacs says that while community members should be allowed to vent their anger, their engagement should always remain within the ambit of law, in particular the Regulation of Gatherings Act.
Isaacs says that given the numerous incidents of violence against women and children, CPS’ need to “go back to the drawing board” and increase awareness campaigns around the issue of missing of children.
He adds that parents need to remain aware of their children’s whereabouts, since many cases of missing children are in fact runaway cases.
“Yesterday evening we were called out to assists with a child who was reported missing and whilst we were just about to activate our units, the child walks into the house – we believe the parents are fully responsible because the child is a minor,” Isaacs stated.
Given the fact that many households consists of working parents, Isaacs urges all parents to uphold the philosophy of “your child is my child” and to take seriously the societal responsibility and report to working parents if children are seen walking around during school hours.
He further notes that parents and guardians need to report a child missing the moment that alarm bells about the child’s whereabouts begin to ring.
“If you find that a child is missing, go to the cops and don’t allow any official to say you must wait 24 hours before you can report a child missing – those days are gone. Report a child missing [immediately] and then the easier it is to reunite a missing child with the family.”
VOC 91.3fm
