Doreen Mokgolo
Chaos erupted at the Benoni Magistrate’s Court. Irvin Ndlovu, Bokgabo’s father raced from the third row to the suspect’s box to assault the child’s murder accused.
Ndlovu was restrained by officials but when angry community members joined in, security personnel rushed the suspect out of court.
This is the first appearance of Ntokozo Zikhali who allegedly murdered Bokgabo Poo. The 30-year-old is facing charges of kidnapping, rape, murder, defeating the ends of justice and violating a corpse.
The father said he couldn’t contain himself when he saw the suspect in the dock unfazed.
“This was the first time I saw the man,” said the enraged father.
“He just stood there as if he didn’t kill my daughter.”
He said he wonders what the suspect told his daughter so that she was that comfortable with him.
The accused’s private legal representation, advocate Clifford Gilpin excused himself from the case.
He said as a father he couldn’t find it in himself to represent someone who allegedly committed such a crime.
“There are personal differences between the suspect and I. I can’t represent someone who thinks this is a fashion show,” he said.
The case was postponed to 24 October.
The court confirmed that Zikhali has a pending case of rape. He was informed by the court that if found guilty the minimum sentence would be a direct sentence.
The four-year-old Bokgabo went missing while playing in a park near her home on Monday afternoon.
Parts of her body were discovered on Tuesday in Tamboville by a woman who was cleaning her yard. The rest of her body was found dumped in an open veld 800 metres from the scene.
She was seen walking with a man on footage from a security camera from a nearby tavern.
The suspect was arrested on Friday morning after he was identified by a resident who informed the police.
Gauteng Police spokesperson, Colonel Mavela Masondo said several role players from the police were summoned to the scene.
“While police were processing the scene, they were informed about the body of a child in an open veld, about 800 metres from the house where the leg of a child was found in a shallow grave. Police found a mutilated body of a child,” he said.
