The De Aar High Court has sentenced 36-year-old Jan Bester to life behind bars for murdering a 7-year-old boy.
William Duiker was the youngest of seven children and was looked after by his oldest sibling who was 21 years old.
Police spokesperson Lieutenant-Colonel Dimakatso Mooi said the family lived on a dumping site after their father was sentenced to life behind bars for killing their mother.
Bester, the accused, had been a friend of the boy's family.
Mooi said Duiker’s body was discovered next to a railway line on August 25 last year.
“The Duiker family were adopted by the De Aar Police in 2014 after it was discovered that they were living at the dumping site after their father was sentenced to jail for murdering their mother,” said Mooi.
“Different stakeholders” had built a home for the family and furnished it, he added.
The Cluster Commander of Pixley Ka Seme, Brigadier Sofika, applauded the investigating officer and welcomed the sentencing.
“By killing children, we are destroying the future and those who kill them do not deserve to live in the society. May this sentence send a strong message to other perpetrators that the killing of children will not be tolerated by the police”.