Police have refuted claims that they did not act fast enough in their search for 13-year-old boy, Jerobijin van Wyk from Klawer on the Cape West Coast.
This follows an incident last Wednesday where a 56-year-old man pursued the child with his bakkie after an alleged fruit-stealing case.
The boy then disappeared after that. The boy’s family alleges that the police did not assist them immediately.
The suspect was arrested last Thursday, following a search of his house, police found human remains in a drain pipe. The suspect has since confessed to the murder and will appear in the Klawer Magistrate’s court on Monday.
Police Spokesperson Novela Potelwa says, “Klawer police commenced with the search that took them to very late on Wednesday with no success. On Thursday morning, they resumed with the search and arrested the suspect on charges of kidnapping. In as far as the allegation that police did not do enough in investigating the missing persons report, sworn statements detailing the nature of the complaints are required in order to allow the management of the SAPS to investigate the allegations properly.”
Some residents in Klawer say local police have failed the mother of the 13-year-old boy.
The suspect will appear in the local Magistrate’s Court tomorrow on a murder charge.
The executive director of the Rural and Farmworkers’ Development Organisation, Billy Claasen, says the suspect’s house should have been searched immediately.
