A child's plea that killers must never harm 'God's people' again now echoes behind four life sentences for serial killer Rassie Nkuna and rogue cop.
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A five-year-old girl who witnessed her parents being shot when she was one year old was left asking who killed them and why.
Her voice now frames the multiple life sentences handed to serial killer Rassie Nkuna and former police officer Jacob Chego on Wednesday morning.
‘I miss mom and dad’
Police shared an emotional audio recording of the couple’s daughter ahead of Wednesday’s sentencing in the Pretoria High Court.
In the recording, the child asks her grandmother about the people who killed her parents in March 2022.
“After drinking the hot chocolate, I feel so sad,” she says, adding that she was thinking about who killed her parents. “I miss Mom and Dad,” she said.
When the grandmother asks why she is thinking about them, the girl says she misses her parents so much and wants the killers to die and “go to hell” so they cannot kill other people.
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Police spokesperson Brigadier Athlenda Mathe said the voice note was a painful reminder of why police work matters and why the pursuit of justice should never stop.
“Behind every investigation is a family waiting for answers. Behind every arrest is a victim whose life was taken and loved ones whose lives were forever changed,” Mathe said.
Four life terms for Nkuna and Chego
The High Court sentenced serial killer Rassie Nkuna and former police officer Jacob Chego with four life sentences each for the brutal double murder and a string of related crimes.
The pair concocted a scheme to lure the couple into a trap so they could steal their car.
Nkuna kidnapped the parents under the pretence of escorting them to a Mpumalanga police facility to recover their stolen vehicle.
They then murdered the couple in cold blood in front of their two young children, aged one and eight, after forcing them to drive into the bushes. The woman was six months pregnant.
Nkuna left the children on the road before another motorist found and took them to a police station.
Now older, the eight-year-old child at the time testified in court as a key eyewitness to the attack.
Court proceedings also exposed his alleged links to at least 25 other open cases, involving offences like rape, armed robbery, and cash-in-transit heists.
Nkuna already serving life
Nkuna is already serving a life sentence for murdering his former girlfriend, Pretty Mazibuko, and her sister, Marcia.
He also faces two more separate murder trials, including one related to the deaths of Nonkululeko Nkosi and Hillary Gardee, who was the daughter of EFF politician Godrich Gardee.
Family says justice finally served
The victims’ parents were in court and said they were happy that justice had finally been served.
They thanked the police, Major General Mbuso Khumalo and the investigating team for never giving up on the case.
Acting National Police Commissioner Lieutenant General Puleng Dimpane praised the investigating team, singling out Sergeant Nkosingphile Mathenjwa of the Gauteng Murder and Robbery Unit.
Dimpane also stressed that the involvement of a former police officer undermines public trust.
“We will not protect members who choose to break the law,” she said, adding that where there is evidence of criminal conduct, officers must face the consequences.
