Transvaal Judge President Bernard Ngoepe said on Friday he has no reason to complain about the manner in which police searched for his murdered four-year-old granddaughter Makgabo Matlala.
”I have no knowledge about the way police conduct their searches. I am not in a position to comment on whether they did what they were supposed to.
”With my limited knowledge I do not feel this issue should be referred to the Independent Complaints Directorate,” said Ngoepe.
This came after National Police Commissioner Jackie Selebi said he was furious at what he called police incompetence in the search for little Makgabo.
”I have never experienced such levels of incompetence before,” Selebi said on Thursday evening, vowing to hold to account the police responsible.
It took authorities more than 24 hours to find the half-naked body of Springs magistrate Stephen Matlala’s daughter under a bed in her parents’ house in Lenasia, southern Johannesburg. Matlala is Ngoepe’s son-in-law.
At first it was thought the girl had been kidnapped during a robbery in which the domestic worker was gang-raped on Wednesday.
Despite Selebi’s utterances, Gauteng police Commissioner Perumal Naidoo remained adamant that the police had conducted their search properly.
Ngoepe, who arrived at a media conference at the Lenasia house in a silver-grey Mercedes-Benz on Friday afternoon, was wearing a grey jacket, purple shirt and brown trousers.
”This incident should be used as an occasion to remind ourselves that we, as a nation, have a problem and that this should stop.
”I am gravely angered by what happened. We still needed more time to spend with her … but it happened.”
Ngoepe said little Makgabo’s funeral will probably be held on Wednesday. He asked that NGOs and the government attend the funeral, so that they can express their views on this violence against women and children.
Makgato’s elder brother, Maditlaka, said he is deeply saddened by what happened to his niece. ”Ah … I cannot even express myself … Eish,” he said.
The post-mortem on Makgabo was completed on Friday morning, police said.
Gauteng police spokesperson Senior Superintendent Mary Martins-Engelbrecht said: ”The results were complete this morning. We are not going to make them known because they will be used in court as evidence.”
Police took a man in for questioning on Thursday afternoon in connection with the murder. The police had received information that he was somehow involved with the killers. What that connection is has not yet been determined.
Police are looking for at least three assailants, based on the nanny’s statement. — Sapa