Far too often we report on child killings that are fast becoming a norm in this country where danger seems to lurk in every community for children.
This week we carried another heartbreaking story of little Amantle Samane who was a month away from graduating from Creche to start grade 1 next year when she was killed.
Her alleged killer Pethe Simiao who has since been arrested was a man who rented a backyard shack in Orlando, Soweto, where Amantle lived with her mother.
Amantle wanted to become a nurse when she is older according to her mother Ntombizodwa Samane whose loss and pain we share. The little girl’s brutal killing has left not only her family and community shattered but all of us outraged.
The heinous crime visited upon her paints a disturbing picture of how our society is failing to protect its most vulnerable and future generations. Amantle is one of too many children who have fallen victim to crime in this country.
That she could be targeted for murder and rape allegedly by someone who lived in the same community is further proof that children’s safety is forever compromised. Amantle was last seen playing with other children on the streets – a very familiar sighting in many townships – but this is where she would meet her alleged killer.
Her lifeless body would later be found inside the man’s rented shack with strangulation marks on her neck. We applaud the police for arresting the alleged perpetrator of this abhorrent crime. The arrest is an important step towards justice for Amantle’s family, the community that has been left horrified by her murder.
But we all have a duty to protect our children. That duty requires that we must do more to know who the people that come to live in our neighbourhoods are for our safety and that of our children. According to police Simiao was caught at another rented place in Zola while he was being sought for Amantle’s killing. This indicates how easy it is for an alleged monster to hide in plain sight to continue on their crime spree.
It is time to pause and reflect on where we are going wrong as society to allow our children to be such easy prey for savage killers.
SOWETAN
www.sowetanlive.co.za
