After posting a heartfelt message on Facebook on Monday about facing his daughter’s alleged killer in court on Valentine's Day, Irvin Ndlovu, the father of the murdered four-year-old Bokgabo Poo, told TimesLIVE Premium the morning was “a complete waste of time”.
Bokgabo’s dismembered body was found in October last year, with some body parts still missing, in two separate locations in Wattville.
She was last seen in grainy CCTV footage merrily skipping along next to the suspect, 30-year-old Ntokozo Zikhali, leaving a park near her family’s house. Zikhali allegedly offered her sweets to accompany him.
Irvin Ndlovu’s emotion is palpable in the Facebook post.
“Tomorrow the 14th of February 2023 I will not give or receive roses, I will not be in a red room themed with love and candles, I will not exchange gifts or have any desire for lovemaking. I am reeling under a bad dream where I can’t even scream. When they pop champagne and unwrap gifts of love with chocolates, I will be sobbing, filled with rage and pain as I will be facing my daughter’s murderer in court,” he wrote on his Facebook page on Monday.
On Tuesday afternoon the father spoke to TimesLIVE Premium.
“We went to the Benoni magistrate’s court this morning, expecting to face the man who took our daughter from us, but he wasn’t even there, and we never even saw the inside of the courtroom,” Ndlovu said.
They were met by the prosecutor.
“We were taken to a small room where the prosecutor and the investigating officer discussed the case with us. The suspect was not even there.”
Now we have to wait another 46 days before we can look that monster in the eyes again. Forty-six days can feel like a year
— Irvin Ndlovu
He is angry.
“Today was very disappointing. Myself and some of our family members wanted to face this man again. He still has a lot to answer for. But now the case is postponed to March 30.”
Ndlovu becomes silent for a moment.
“Now we have to wait another 46 days before we can look that monster in the eyes again. Forty-six days can feel like a year.”
TimesLIVE Premium, however, attended the court appearance, which took place while the father was in the adjacent room.
The entire process, which ended in a postponement to March 30, took less than 15 minutes.
The matter was postponed pending guidance from the director of public prosecutions about whether it would be heard in the high court or the magistrate's court.
The state also still has to decide on the details of whether Bokgabo’s murder case and a rape case of another minor child will run concurrently.
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