Baby attacker still on the loose

2010-04-26 22:59

André Damons, Beeld

Johannesburg - A Mozambican construction worker - built like a body builder - stood alongside his accomplice in the defendants' bench of the Johannesburg Magistrate's Court on Monday, for the vicious assault on a 1-year-old baby and her nanny.

Nelson Maphosa, 28, and Gerald Nyantumbo, 25, both from Mozambique, are facing charges related to the attack in which baby Marzanne Kruger and her nanny Francina Sekhu both sustained serious head and other injuries.

The police said on Monday they are still looking for a third suspect - also a Mozambican citizen - Chakhoma Machaba, 28.

Machaba, Maphosa and Nyantumbo had apparently been part of a team of builders who worked on the home of Bertus and Madelein Kruger in Robin Hills, Randburg, earlier this year.

According to Eugene Opperman, police spokesperson, Machaba is well-known in Soweto and Alexandra.

He added that Machaba has violent tendencies and is dangerous and that he should not be confronted.

Bloody greeting

The Times reported on Monday that Sekhu knew one of the attackers and called him a friend. She let the men into the house in Roosevelt Street.

"I feel betrayed. I didn't think he was capable of doing this to me," she told the newspaper.

"I don't remember how we were attacked or what happened afterward. He was a friend; I thought I could trust him."

When Marzanne's mother, Madelein, came home from work on Thursday afternoon at about 13:00, she saw the blood and found Sekhu tied up and unconscious.

Marzanne, who apparently sustained multiple skull fractures, a large wound above her right eye and several other wounds to her body, stopped breathing three times and had to be resuscitated by emergency service workers each time.

Liezl Furlong, spokesperson for the Sandton Medi-Clinic, said on Monday the baby is still in a serious but stable condition in the intensive care unit.

Her father said earlier the doctors are "cautiously optimistic" about his daughter's condition.

According to Mandla Sidu, spokesperson for the Gauteng department of health, Sekhu is in a stable condition.

At their appearance in court on Monday, Maphosa and Nyantumbo looked somewhat confused and were constantly whispering to one another, as if they did not understand the two charges of attempted murder and aggravated robbery against them.

They are Shangaan and apparently don't understand much English.

Maphosa, whose hair is cut short, was wearing a smart green jersey through which his muscular body could be seen. Nyantumbo, who is also of average height and has a short, tidy hairstyle, was wearing a loose-fitting jacket which hid his body.

A question

The court appearance lasted only long enough to announce that they have to be back in court on Wednesday, after the public holiday.

There were no friends or family of the suspects in court, only journalists.

Besides explaining to them that the case will resume on Wednesday and that they are being detained, the magistrate and prosecutor didn't pay much attention to the accused. They did not have a legal representative.

On his way back to the cells Maphosa put up his hand to ask a question, but he was ignored.

"The arrests are the result of good investigative work," said Opperman.

Referring to Machaba, he added: "As they say, you can run but you can't hide forever."

 

- Beeld