The Katlehong community is still haunted by the murder of seven-year- old Mamokgethi Malebana, writes Tangeni Amupadhi
A plethora of Childline posters adorns the office and classrooms of Kabelo Primary School in Katlehong on the East Rand, suggesting just how concerned the school is about the safety of its pupils.
“We are determined not to lose another child to molesters and murderers the way we lost Mamokgethi Malebana,” says principal Nozi Moholi.
To an outsider it appears to be business as usual as this township school struggles to cope with its loss. Children in black and white uniforms mill about the drab face- brick classrooms.
On closer inspection, however, there have been many changes since Mamokgethi was murdered last year. Her kidnapping and slaying rocked pupils, teachers, the Katlehong community and, indeed, the entire South African nation.
The seven-year-old girl was abducted from school, throttled to death and buried in a shallow grave not far from home by her neighbour, Daniel Mabote (31).
Facing charges of raping Mamokgethi, Mabote snatched the opportunity to silence the girl after the courts ignored police protestations and released him on bail.
This week the Johannesburg High Court sentenced Mabote to life imprisonment for the murder, 12 years for kidnapping and three years for escaping from police custody. Mabote will face three counts of rape next week, involving the attack on Mamokgethi and on two other children.
While Mamokgethi’s mother, Joyce Malebana, and the people of Katlehong generally welcome the punishment, they have still not come to terms with the tragedy.
“The fact that Mabote has been punished will not bring Mamokgethi back,” says Moholi.
“We have made security much tighter after her death and the children are now very suspicious of any strange people.”
The school is running counselling services for children in conjunction with Childline, especially when a teacher observes “funny behaviour” from a pupil, says Moholi.
“If a person comes to fetch a child, we check them out very carefully. The security is going to get even tighter because there are a lot of Mabotes out there.”
Barbed wire ensures intruders are kept at bay, and the school has employed a guard to man the gate, which is locked at all times.
In the community the situation is not much different.
Daniel Dipale (36) says he no longer lets his son and daughter out of his sight on the dusty streets of the township. “I’m very careful. I don’t allow my children to play around, and I don’t allow anyone to send them to the shops.”
Dipale lives not far from the house where Mabote used to rent a room. Mabote’s former landlord, Paseka Sello, feels guilty that she gave him accommodation. “If I knew he was a skelm, I would not have let him stay here.”
To the Sello family Mabote was a quiet, nice man who never missed church. What emerged about him later was shocking. “We didn’t expect a born-again Christian to be like that.”
It was in number 749 Moseleke section, in an outside room, that Mabote is accused of having raped Mamokgethi two years ago.
Now Sello screens the backgrounds of anyone who wants to rent the room. She only takes people referred to her by her trusted relatives. “I don’t want nonsense anymore,” she declares.
The Malebanas live next door to the Sellos and their relationship is as cordial as it was before Mabote’s arrival.
Little sign of Mamokgethi is left in the Malebana house. But someone has just finished paging through an album on the bed in one of the rooms. It contains photographs of the funeral and those of Joyce Malebana, Mamokgethi and her three-year-old sister Emma.
A day after Mabote was sentenced, Joyce Malebana began studying for her end-of-year examinations. She is already back at Usizo College, where she is a second-year business administration student. But it is not easy, she admits.
“I’m trying to start my life again, but it is hard to study because she [Mamokgethi] keeps crossing my mind. It will get easier with time,” she says.
Malebana emphasises that the support she has received from the Katlehong community and people around South Africa has eased the load on her shoulders.
However, she still does not know how to explain to Emma where her older sister has gone and why she will never come back.