Delft rapist destroyed entire family, should rot in jail

20 March 2014 - 09:28 By Philani Nombembe
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INCONSOLABLE: The grandmother of a nine-year-old left to die after a particularly vicious rape in Delft, near Cape Town
INCONSOLABLE: The grandmother of a nine-year-old left to die after a particularly vicious rape in Delft, near Cape Town
Image: HALDEN KROG

“This man has not only killed Lihle, but our whole family too. His family will be able to visit him in jail but we will have visit a grave. He must rot in jail.”

These are the chilling words of Cape Flats resident Margaret Mbolekwa, whose nine-year-old granddaughter died of her injuries this week, almost two months after a brutal attack in which she was raped, strangled, burnt and left to die in Delft, a township on the outskirts of Cape Town.

Lihle Hlanjwa succumbed early on Tuesday morning at the Red Cross war memorial children’s Hospital.

A 27-year-old man was apprehended by the community and subsequently charged with abduction, rape and sexual assault.

Police yesterday confirmed he will now also face a murder charge.

He is due to appear in court again on March 27.

A distressed Mbolekwa was surrounded by relatives and neighbours in her tiny home yesterday. She had just returned from a doctor’s appointment, as she has been battling to sleep since her granddaughter was discovered in the bushes left for dead.

She said cameras snapping at her family and having to relive the nightmare to the media is also taking a toll on her. Pictures of her home and family have been splashed in newspapers and beamed on television since January.

“The thought of narrating this ordeal over and over is haunting to me, my peace and quiet is gone,” said Mbolekwa. “I used to hear about similar incidents in the news but it never dawned to me that one day I could be facing the same nightmare.”

Mbolekwa said the family wanted to give Lihle a decent send-off, but that would depend on donations from well-wishers. She will be buried on March 29.

The child’s parents, Julius Sithole and Amanda Mbolekwa, are also unemployed. Sithole had camped on his  daughter’s bedside since she was admitted to hospital. Both parents were too distraught to talk about their daughter’s death.

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