Cape Town - The mother of an eight-year-old girl who had been raped and stabbed by the suspect in the Michaela Williams murder case says the Department of Correctional Services has blood on their hands.
This after she warned that the suspect could rape and kill again.
In February 2005, the 48-year-old had lured the eight-year-old from her home in Hyde Park informal settlement in Tafelsig to Khayelitsha Cemetery, where he raped her, strangled her and stabbed her in the heart with scissors.
But the brave child survived by pretending to be dead and managed to crawl out of the bush and get help.
Her testimony saw the suspect sentenced to 20 years behind bars.
A year ago, however, he was granted parole.
As the suspect appears in the Wynberg Magistrates’ Court today, the 46-year-old woman says Michaela’s violent death could have been prevented.
The 12-year-old disappeared on 7 January while playing in front of her home in Crane Street, New Horizons, Pelican Park.
He lived two doors from the family.
He was caught a day after her disappearance and led cops to 9th Avenue in Schaapkraal, Philippi, where he had allegedly dumped Michaela’s body.
She had been bludgeoned to death with a concrete slab.
Police have yet to reveal if rape and other charges will be added.
“Daai ouers moet nou huil, hoeveel ouers moet nog huil as gevolg van die justice system,” (Those parents must now cry. How many more parents will cry as a result of the justice system?) asks the mother.
“Die officer het my belieg, sy superiors het my belieg, hulle het my belowe hulle sal ‘* tag op hom sit, hulle het dit nooit gedoen nie. (The officer lied, his superiors lied to me, they promised me they will watch him, but they didn't do that)"
“Ek het dan nog my kind lewendig gekry, hoe moet daai familie voel? (My child at least came to me alive, how must that family feel?)"
“Today my child is a living testimony, she was eight years old when it happened to her.
“When they said she was going to testify, he said ‘dit kan nie wees nie, want hy het seker gemaak hy het haar dood gemaak.' ('it can't be true, because he made sure that he killed her.'")
The mother ran a spaza shop in 2005 and says the suspect was known to the family and would often run errands for the family and was a general worker in the community.
On the day of the attack, she had planned to take her children to Ratanga Junction.
That same day, the suspect was also at the house.
The child went to buy an ice bite from a tuck shop but did not return home.
After her daughter survived the attack, the mother rushed her to hospital, where they were told the child was just minutes away from being a corpse.
“Hy het haar binne in die hart gesteek met scissors en haar gechoke en gerape en hy het gebrag wat hy gedoen het (He stabbed her in the heart with scissors, choked her and raped her then bragged about what he did)” says the woman.
“She had pretended to be dead and held her breath.
“If she hadn’t, he would have made sure she was dead.
“She had been missing for hours and he even helped us to look for her.
“She was found the next morning and afterwards he took cops to the place where he had left her.
“When I finally saw her and wrapped her in a blanket, she said: ‘Dit was (suspect)’.”
The mother visited Michaela’s family on Friday and says the murder has opened old wounds for her.
“I am heartbroken for that family. How must that mother feel today?
“We heard in the community he was out and now people blame the parole board because they did not do their work right.
“Since he came out a year ago, I was in and out of their offices and warned them that something like this can happen.
“The one officer said he had lost track of where he was because he was to do visits in December.
“He said he was going to tag him.
“Now they want to say they were waiting for tags, but that was their duty.
“If they’d kept their promise, that child would be alive today.
“How can you release a murderer and rapist?
“My daughter is devastated, she was in tears when she heard he has done this. I did not tell her that he was free until now.”
Last week, Michaela’s mom Beatrice Adams told Daily Voice: “I do not want to speak about the case or the suspect, those questions will be answered by the police.
“I know my life will never be the same again. There is a big part missing from our family.
“Now I need to focus on being strong for my family and to heal from inside.”