Family of 3-year-old Courtney Pieters flooded with goodwill ahead of memorial

A memorial service will be held for three-year-old Courtney Pieters in Elsies River on Thursday evening.

Police Minister Fikile Mbalula will attend the service in Cape Town and rumours are rife that President Jacob Zuma will also meet with the family.

The Pieters' home has been flooded with goodwill.

Not only has the community painted the family's house‚ installed flooring and new carpets but a major retailer has sponsored flowers to the value of approximately R5‚000.

"I just picked up the flowers. Some will be used at the memorial tonight‚'' said community leader Imraahn Mukaddam.

"The rest will be used for the funeral on Saturday.''

• Rubber bullets fired as protesters try to get their hands on man accused of killing little CourtneyPolice fired rubber bullets to disperse a crowd outside a Cape Town court on Wednesday as the man accused of murdering and raping a three-year-old was driven away.

Buses to transport family from Tulbagh were also offered to the impoverished family.

The child had been raped twice‚ allegedly by a man she had known for most of her short life. She was killed and buried in a shallow grave.

The alleged perpetrator‚ Mortimer Saunders‚ was a tenant in the Pieters home for two years.

• Courtney Pieters's suspected killer lived 'down the hall'The man arrested in connection with the murder of three-year-old Courtney Pieters was a boarder in her family's home, with a room near Courtney's "just down the hall".

He appeared in court on Wednesday but chose not to apply for bail as he fears for his life.

Privacy settings on Saunders's Facebook profile are tight. However‚ he lists that he is a fan of Liverpool Football Club‚ he is an associate at a company in Bellville and that he matriculated from Elsies River High School in 1995.

Saunders joined the community when they mobilised to search for the child. He was even among those who found her body in Epping on Saturday.

- TMG Digital/TimesLIVE