The four-year-old granddaughter of Transvaal Judge President Bernard Ngoepe was kidnapped in a robbery in Lenasia on Wednesday, Vaal police said.
A massive manhunt was launched for the kidnappers on Wednesday. It would continue throughout the night, said Superintendent Nthabiseng Mazibuko.
”So far, there has been no ransom demand. We have activated all units within the South African Police Service to assist.”
Mazibuko added that preliminary investigations ruled out the possibility of a link between the kidnapping and the Jacob Zuma rape trial, from which Ngoepe had recused himself.
”There is no link at all. The findings of our preliminary investigations haven’t taken us in that direction. There is nothing that indicates a link,” Mazibuko said.
Ngoepe added that there is no reason for the kidnapping and the Zuma rape case to be linked.
”As far as I know, I’ve no reason to link that and I would actually have preferred not even to think along those lines because at this stage, I’ve no reason to think of any linkage,” he told the South African Broadcasting Corporation.
A relative said on Wednesday night that Ngoepe was ”very upset”.
He rushed to Lenasia just hours after the child was snatched, said his nephew Phakedi Mpe.
”My uncle is not home. He went straight to Lenasia. Please, we are appealing to the kidnappers to bring our little girl home. She knows nothing and is innocent.
”I don’t know what kind of person this is,” he said.
Gauteng community safety minister Firoz Cachalia expressed shock at the kidnapping.
”The MEC [provincial minister] is very angry both at the kidnapping and the abduction,” spokesperson Phumla Sekhonyana said.
”He appealed for Makgabo’s safe return and gave his assurance that no stone will be left unturned in making sure those responsible are brought to book,” she said.
The daughter of Springs magistrate Stephen Matlala, Makgabo Bernice Matlala, was wearing a pink top with a butterfly on the left side when she was taken.
She had been at her parents’ home with her nanny when three robbers stormed in at 8am, said Mazibuko.
”The helper was scrubbing the floor when she heard noises in the house. She turned around, [and] saw three males who then approached and blindfolded her. The men took her to one of the rooms and gang-raped her. The little girl … was asleep in her room.”
The attackers ransacked the house, stealing DVDs and cellphones. They then picked up Makgabo and left. — Sapa