Two Cape Flats girls found murdered last week were laid to rest on Saturday, South African Broadcasting Corporation news reported.
Cape Town mayor Nomaindia Mfeketo said at the funeral of three-year-old Joey Joseph that the community of Delft will stand together to fight incidents of this nature.
Joseph disappeared last Wednesday while playing outside her home. Her body was found the next day in dense bushes not far from her home.
The community demanded that the bush be cleared.
Mfeketo said the community must be more vigilant in looking after its children.
She also lambasted the media for showing nude pictures and pornographic images that could contribute to violence against children and women.
”What is it that we are feeding our communities with, in TV, in media, [in] pornographic so-called newspapers nowadays, that also contributes [to] making our society wanting to experience some of the things they are seeing and hearing and reading about?” Mfeketo said.
Following an announcement this week by provincial community and safety minister Leonard Ramatlakane of the establishment of a rapid response unit to enhance the response to missing children, the reward for helping arrest and convict perpetrators of child-related crimes was increased from R50 000 to R100 000.
Meanwhile, the old Apostolic church in Lavender Hill in Cape Town overflowed with mourners attending the funeral of seven-year-old Veronique Solomons.
She was abducted last week near her home in Steenberg.
Her charred remains were discovered later the same day in Zeekoevlei, but DNA tests had to be used to confirm that it was her body.
Her remains were to be cremated at a private function following the church ceremony. — Sapa