Johannesburg - The Commission for Gender Equality (CGE) expressed outrage on Friday at the killing and raping of children in Diepsloot and elsewhere in the country.
“It is with great sadness that we experience yet another rape and murder of children,” the organisation said in a statement.
“It should be noted that this happens at the time when the CGE has taken measures to ensure that there is public awareness... of gender-based violence in our society.”
It welcomed the arrests in Diepsloot.
“(We) applaud the police for moving swiftly in arresting the alleged perpetrator and believe justice would be served. The CGE will closely monitor the case as part of its internal mandate.”
On Tuesday, Diepsloot residents took to the streets after the bodies of two-year-old Yonelisa Mali and her three-year-old cousin Zandile Mali, were discovered in a communal toilet. They had been reported missing at the weekend.
Four men appeared in the Pretoria Magistrate's Court on Friday on charges of rape and murder. The case was postponed to Thursday for the men to apply for Legal Aid. A fifth man, who was arrested early Friday morning in Alexandra, will appear on Monday.
The girls' funeral will be held on Saturday.
In a separate case, on Wednesday, Katlehong residents found two toddlers, aged one and three, dead in a field near Zonkizizwe. Their mother, Esther Moyana, faces two charges of murder for allegedly poisoning them.
She initially told police that her husband had abandoned her and the children in the veld on Tuesday, while on their way from Witbank to Johannesburg.
She claimed he left them with cooldrink, which they drank on Tuesday night. When she woke in the morning, the children were dead.
Police said there appeared to be discrepancies in Moyana's story.
Sapa