Minister arrested after teen daughter strangled to death, toddler beaten

A church minister from Ngqamakhwe, in the Eastern Cape's Amathole district, has been arrested for allegedly strangling his 13-year-old daughter and beating a three-year-old relative so badly she is fighting for her life.

The fatal attack on the teenager is understood to have taken place at the suspect’s home in eMaxelegwini village shortly after midday on Tuesday.

The victim was a grade 7 pupil and the youngest of four siblings.

A family member, who asked to remain anonymous, told the Daily Dispatch the suspect was arrested the same day.

Police spokesperson W/O Majola Nkohli confirmed the police had arrested a 69-year-old man for his alleged involvement in the murder of his daughter.

The relative said the minister’s wife, the mother of the older girl, took out a protection order against him earlier this year after she was allegedly assaulted.

According to Nkohli, preliminary investigations indicated there was an interim protection order pending against the suspect, which was scheduled to be finalised in court next week. Despite this, the couple still lived on the same property.

The family member said they had fierce arguments on Monday and Tuesday.

“The mother was preparing for her sister’s funeral in another household in the village. On Tuesday she came back to look for the protection order and while she was doing that, the daughter arrived from school,” said Nkohli.

“The daughter asked to go with her to her aunt’s home, but her mother told her to change out of her uniform first.”

While the girl was doing so, the mother left the home and walked to the house where the preparations were under way.

She then became worried that her daughter had not emerged from their home and turned back.

The relative said the minister, who was in the family home, allegedly grabbed his daughter, bound her hands and legs with a rope, and used a wire hanger to strangle her.

“Her mother saw him leave the house through another gate. When she got to the house, she found her daughter dead. She screamed, drawing the attention of neighbours, who came running.”

The relative said the minister then went to the house where the funeral was being arranged and found the three-year-old. He allegedly hit her with a stick several times in the stomach and on the back of the head. He was stopped by a villager.

The relative said the minister then wandered off, rope in hand, to an area of trees and cliffs. However, one of the men in the family followed and confronted him. With help from other men, he was brought home, where the police arrested him.

The toddler was rushed to Butterworth Hospital, before being transferred to Frere Hospital in East London. Her mother reportedly works in Cape Town.

Describing the dead teenager, the relative said: “[She] was such a sweet child. She loved church and she loved school.

“More than being hurt, we are angry. We have questions. What kind of an argument is it that would lead him to take out his anger on innocent children?”

She said the minister had been a pleasant person while working in Cape Town. He retired about three years ago and changed, allegedly becoming abusive to his wife, she added.

Nkohli said: “The 69-year-old is due to appear in Ngqamakhwe magistrate’s court on a charge of murder, with the possibility of an additional charge of assault.”

Eastern Cape child rights activist Petros Majola of Khula Community Development Project called for the efficacy of protection orders to be revisited, saying they were not always effective in safeguarding applicants.

“It is just an instruction and does not build walls around whoever applies for it,” he said.

Majola also called on churches to vet people they considered for office.

The attacks happened just a week after a 32-year-old woman was arrested for allegedly bludgeoning her four children to death with a hammer in Tsalaba village, Ngcobo. The youngsters were aged 2, 5, 8 and 11.

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