'Do not shame Jasmin's grave'

Pastor Colin Bam, the grandfather of Jasmin Lee Pretorius, the four-year-old who was murdered on December 28, called for calm ahead of her funeral today.

Jasmin's parents have been placed in protective custody after receiving death threats.

Many members of their community believe they should be held partly responsible for her violent death.

Jasmin's uncle, Sarel du Toit, yesterday appeared in the Brakpan Magistrate's Court, on the East Rand, in connection with her rape and murder. Community members bayed for his blood outside the court. Jasmin's body was found soon after she was reported missing from her father Morné Pretorius's Brakpan flat earlier that day.

Du Toit allegedly confessed to murdering Jasmin before leading police to her body, which was stuffed under the mattress of her father's bed.

It is suspected she was raped and strangled in the early hours of Saturday morning, though the post mortem results are not yet available.

During Du Toit's brief court appearance yesterday, Magistrate Khatija Abba postponed the matter to Monday to give Du Toit an opportunity to secure legal aid.

Morné Pretorius and his former wife, Sasha Lee Bam, Jasmin's mother, were not in court yesterday. They are being held in protective custody.

Jasmin and her six-year-old sister had been visiting their father in the flat he shared with Du Toit and Du Toit's boyfriend, Darren Pretorius, and Jasmin's grandmother, Isabel du Toit, who was in the flat when the child was murdered. Pretorius left his daughters in his relatives' care on the night of the murder.

Bam said the parents should not be blamed.

"[No parent can] say they have never left their kids with a family member," he said.

Community members said Du Toit deserved death and threatened to take justice into their own hands if he were released on bail.

National director of public prosecutions Mxolisi Nxasana attended Du Toit's court appearance yesterday and said he was confident of the state's case and was calling for a life sentence for Du Toit.

Minister for Women, Children and People with Disabilities Lulu Xingwana said judges should apply the maximum sentence against all those found guilty of violence against women and children.

The funeral service for Jasmin will take place at the Lighthouse Church in Brakpan at 11am today.