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'I asked him to take her home'
19/07/2007 13:07 - (SA)
Neo Mohlala
Nelspruit - A child rapist was sentenced to two life terms on Wednesday for raping and killing a neighbour's five-year-old daughter, Naledi Mashego.
Samuel Ngcondo, 37, of Mandela village near Bushbuckridge had pleaded guilty to charges of rape and murder before being sentenced in the Nelspruit circuit of the Pretoria High Court.
The sentences will run concurrently.
The child's mother, Zuzzy Tebogo Mashego, was in tears when she testified that it was she who had suggested that Ngcondo take her child, Naledi, with him.
She said that she and the little girl were queuing for a child grant on February 7 2005, when they came across Ngcondo.
"My child began crying and wanted to go home because she was hungry, so I asked him to take her home and give her food," she said.
When Mashego arrived home, Ngcondo claimed he didn't know where Naledi was.
"He told me that along the way she cried and said she wanted to come back to me, so he let her go," she said.
She then went to Bushbuckridge police station to report Naledi missing.
The next morning, when the police went to question Ngcondo, he wasn't home.
The police and the community searched for both the child and Ngcondo.
Two days later, at about 09:00, Naledi's body was found wrapped in a blanket in Ngcondo's house.
"Her face was bruised and she had been strangled," said Mashego.
She said she would never forgive Ngcondo for what he had done.
"I trusted him with all my heart. He was more than a neighbour to me. He was like family.
"Even now I really can't believe he did such a thing. Now I believe when they say never trust anyone, especially with your children. I will never forgive him," she said.
Ngcondo was arrested on February 10 in Dwarsloop, a village seven kilometres away.
The prosecutor told the court that Ngcondo had a history of violence. He had three previous convictions for assault with the intention to cause grievous bodily harm.
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