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Hundreds protest over Sheldean
09/03/2007 11:50 - (SA)
Johannesburg - Hundreds of people across South Africa have protested against child murders in the country, dressed in a pink top and jeans, to remember Sheldean Human.
The seven-year-old was taken from her Pretoria home last month and her body was found in a culvert in the capital on Monday. She was dressed in a pink top and jeans when she went missing.
Several hundred protesters gathered outside Pretoria magistrate's court on Friday, where the case of Andrew Jordaan, 25, the man accused of murdering Sheldean, was postponed until March 16.
The court was packed to capacity before Jordaan appeared, with journalists and the public jostling for space. All the seating was occupied and numerous people stood. Many more who could not fit into the court room remained outside the building.
The protestors dispersed peacefully after the postponement.
'Sick society'
About a hundred people, including politicians, also gathered outside parliament's main gates in Cape Town for a peaceful protest against the high rate of child murders in South Africa.
"There is something fundamentally sick in South African society. We have a sick society," Independent Democrats leader Patricia de Lille told Sapa at the scene.
As she spoke, members of the public laid bunches of flowers around a poster-size photograph of Sheldean that had been leaned up against the plinth of a statue at parliament's Roeland Street entrance.
De Lille expressed sympathy for all families who had lost children to crime.
"There is no justification for the murder, rape and maiming of the most vulnerable in our society," she said.
Call to reinstate death penalty
African Christian Democratic Party MP Steve Swart said government was failing in its role to protect citizens.
He further called for reinstatement of the death penalty, saying there was "clearly insufficient deterrent in the justice system".
The Democratic Alliance's Mike Waters said on average three children were murdered each day in South Africa.
He said he hoped the protest would galvanise citizens and the media to highlight child murders.
"It should spur government, the public sector and society to start doing something about child abuse and murders."
There were a range of initiatives, including the sending of missing children's photos via cellphones by the major network operators, that could be implemented, but these needed to be driven by government, Waters said.
Bloemfontein
The pink-tops-and-jeans protest was also evident in Bloemfontein on Friday.
Most parents and children arriving at the Universitas primary school were wearing pink tops and jeans, while boys wore white shirts, a pink ribbon and jeans.
The protest against children becoming victims of crime was arranged by a group called the Pink Ladies.
Gargerienne Green, a mother of three, also wearing a pink top and jeans, said most of her colleagues at the University of the Free State were wearing the same cloths when she arrived at work on Friday.
"Most in our division are wearing pink tops and jeans today, even my husband put on a pink shirt today.
"We support the protest against violence toward children, and also against women."
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