- Residents say police failed to help search for the missing child and blame them for her death.
- A man and a woman were arrested and are expected in Khayelitsha court on 25 July.
Angry residents of Kuyasa in Khayelitsha marched to Harare police station after a seven-year-old girl was found murdered.
The little girl, Olitha Khowa, went missing on the evening of 22 July. Her family raised the alarm around 6pm and neighbours joined the search.
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She was found dead the next day with a screwdriver left stuck in her head.
Residents say they went to the police station that night to ask for help and a vehicle to search, but were told there were no vehicles available.
Ward councillor Lonwabo Mqina said: "We believe that if SAPS availed themselves yesterday, we wouldn't be here today, and the young girl would still be alive. Community members went to search the suspect's house but were chased away. If SAPS were there, they would have entered forcefully, but as usual, SAPS failed to do their job."
He said residents later found the suspect cleaning her house.
"We don't believe it is a coincidence that the child was last seen with her, and today she woke up and started cleaning the house. When she was asked, she said she's waiting for tenants. We don't believe her, and we want her to rot in jail," he said.
Mqina warned that if the suspects do not appear in court on Friday, the community would take action.
"We hope that they will be in court Friday because if they aren't, we will come back here with a lot of energy. The suspects brutally killed her by stabbing her with a screwdriver and left it in her head. We want justice," he said.
Western Cape Deputy Provincial Commissioner Major General Luyanda Damoyi said police are shocked by the brutal killing and promised to investigate claims that officers failed to help the night before.
"We heard the allegations levelled against the officers who didn't assist when they were asked to do so yesterday. We will investigate and take action after we have completed the investigation," he said.
He confirmed a man and a woman were arrested.
Western Cape police spokesperson Sergeant Wesley Twigg said officers launched a full investigation soon after the child's body was found.
"The biological sniffer dog led the members to an address in Kuyasa where the child was last seen. The dog reacted to blood on the mop and bloodstains on the floor of the house, which are believed to be that of the child," said Twigg.
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Both suspects are due to appear in the Khayelitsha Magistrate's Court on Friday, 25 July.
