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THE SYSTEM that should protect children from the ills of society let 13-year-old Moneba Kruger of Retreat down.

Moneba bled to death on the floor of her parents? bedroom after she was allegedly raped and her throat slit on Thursday, 20 March.

Her father, Rashaad Kruger (46), was arrested on a charge of murder. He was out on bail after apparently assaulting a minor in February and was due to appear in court on this charge on Monday, 31 March. He had been released from prison 14 months ago after serving a ten-year sentence for the rape of a family member.

Moneba was taken out of her primary school, Lourier Primary, by her family two years ago and even though the law specifically states that all children under 15 must attend school, her case was apparently left unattended.

Clive Kruger, principal of Lourier Primary School, says he and his staff did everything they could to find out why Moneba was not at school.

He says they contacted her pa?rents, the Department of Social Development through Cafda, and the Western Cape Education Department.

"I sent a letter to her father to find out where she was," he says.

Clive says Rashaad told him that Moneba was attending a Muslim school.

"I asked for a letter and contact details of the school, but these were not forthcoming," he says.

Clive says he took the matter further and had one of the volunteers at the school contact Social Deve?lopment workers at Cafda, which he says the volunteer did.

Cafda is a non-profit organisation and receives a grant-In-aid from the City of Cape Town. The organisation has registered social workers and works closely with the city and the provincial government.

Stafford Isaacs, Cafda's social development manager, confirmed that he had received a list of names from the school regarding children who needed attention, but the person who brought the list told him that he would provide more information about the cases.

Said Isaacs: "We received the list of 20 to 30 children and Moneba's name was on it."

He says the school did not get back to him with the information as promised.

I n justifying why Cafda had not visited the school to follow up on the list, Isaacs says he was unaware of the seriousness of the situation due to the lack of information.

"We cannot act on anything unless the school says the child is at risk," says Isaacs.

Clive says he acted immediately when he noticed Moneba's continuous absence from school, starting in 2006.

But Isaacs contends that the first time the school approached Cafda was in August last year.

"The school let the child down. That child's life could have been saved," Isaacs says.

Gert Witbooi, spokesperson for Cameron Dugmore, MEC for Education in the Western Cape, says that normally when a child is absent from school for a prolonged period of time without notifying the school, the school would contact the circuit manager, who would then get in touch with the family and Department of Social Development.

However, the circuit manager for the area is away on holiday and is not contactable. Information regarding what the Education Department did on this matter could not be provided at the time of going to print.

Witbooi claimed that something "should definitely have been done". "She was supposed to be in school," he said.

"We will look into the matter to find out what efforts we made to get her back to school."

Rashaad appeared in the Wynberg Magistrate's Court on Tuesday, 25 March on a charge of murder.

His next court appearance will be on Friday, 11 April. He was denied bail and he is currently in custody in Pollsmoor prison.

Siyabulela Mqikela, spokesperson for Kholeka Mqulwana, MEC for Social Development, was sent an enquiry to ascertain what the Department of Social Development had done from its side during the time that Moneba was not in school. He did not respond to the enquiry despite People's Post making a number of calls to his cellphone and landline.

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