Likhona Fose, 14, had dreams to change her family for the better when she grew up, but that was all shattered when her mutilated body was found in the veld at Durban Deep, Roodepoort, on Sunday.
Clad in a red blanket and seated on a sofa in her house in Durban Deep, Likhona's grandmother, Nosidelelo Fose, couldn't contain her tears when talking about the beloved teenager.
“She would make tea for me. She was the child I would send around to do the house chores. She was lovely, obedient and wanted to have a better future — we had hopes for her,” she said.
She said her granddaughter went out on Saturday with her friends and never came back.
Fose said she took in the child when her mother passed away while they were living in Cape Town.
“She is my granddaughter, I raised her. Took her in when she was in grade 3. Her mother passed away while they were in Cape Town. I took her in and raised her as my own daughter, and moved with her to this side.
“She is my daughter who used to look after me. When I asked her to do some errands or make me food, she would do it immediately,” she said.
Fose's brother , Thozamile Mlenze, said Likhona had dreams and plans for the future, and always wanted to improve her family members' lives.
“She always wanted a bright future. Growing up without a parent, she thought that maybe one day she would have something and cover that gap of losing her mother while she was very young,” he said.
He added that she had left a huge void in the family, and her sister was going through immense pain. He said Likhona was a joyful child who would make everyone laugh with her jokes at home.
Residents in Durban Deep described the area as the most dangerous community that is often left out without any assistance from the government, while crime is spiralling out of control.
One of the residents who has been staying in the area since 1993, Thomson Nkuna, spoke of a community that was dangerous and infiltrated by illegal miners. He said there were so many illegal miners in the area, and the crime was high, but he suspected it was the local residents involved.
“One resident bought a flat-screen TV and shortly thereafter his home was invaded and he was killed,” he said.
He added that about three years ago, there was a time when they would discover dumped bodies in the veld, and they even protested to the Roodepoort police station.
“We are not safe here. I moved to this area while it was still shacks before the houses were even built,” he said.
The Johannesburg's council speaker, Nobuhle Mthembu, visited the family on Wednesday to offer her support. She said there were no words that she could leave the family with that could help.
“When you look at someone, especially an elderly woman in pain ... She had hopes, she had dreams for this young girl and someone, some people out there saw it fit to play God in such a very evil manner,” she said.
She added that it was not the first time that they had visited the area, and she knows about the issue of illegal mining.
“There has always been a safety concern around this area. It does not only need only the metro cops, it also needs the SA Police Service — that's intergovernmental working relationship we need.
“But is there a safety concern here not only for children, not only for women, but for the whole of society,” she said.
A community member and PR councillor in the ward, Lwanda Bini, said the cause of problems in the area lay in the continuous crime and illegal mining activities.
“The illegal miners are operating in a sense of taking over the area. We hardly see them and cannot identify them because they hide in the bushes and shacks that they operate in,” said Bini.
He said two street lights were working on the main road, and the community had repeatedly pleaded with the city to repair them, but nothing got done.
He said men also fall victim of rape, but they never find the perpetrators. “We have patrollers, but they are also afraid because deaths are rapidly increasing. I am also scared for my life, but I have no choice but to be present for my community,” he said.
Bini urged the government and the home affairs department to look deeply into illegal immigrants so they can identify common criminals in the area.
One of the residents who was part of a group of women dressed in black and marching to the Fose home in solidarity with the family said they were torn apart by what happened to the young girl.
Dudu Dube said the march was necessary and blamed the police for the crime. She said police were failing the community.
“It doesn't start with Fose; many young children have died, but there is no action, and nobody has been arrested. Roodepoort police are failing us. We talk about crime, we are not heard, we march to the police station, we are still not heard, what more must we do?” asked Dube.
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