Thousands flocked to Elsies River in Cape Town for the funeral service of murdered eight-year-old Tazne van Wyk on Saturday.
The Uniting Reformed Church in Southern Africa in Halt Road was filled to capacity as mourners, including her little classmates, came to bid her a final farewell.
Her body was found last Wednesday outside Worcester. Her neighbour, Moyhdian Pangarker, pointed out the location of her decomposing remains in a stormwater drain. He has since been charged with her murder.
People came out in their numbers, with law enforcement controlling the traffic.
Dozens of mourners arrived by bus.
Among the emotional attendees, were pupils dressed in their school uniforms. Some wore T-shirts bearing Tazne’s smiling face.
Police Minister Bheki Cele, provincial police management, Western Cape Health MEC Nomafrench Mbombo and former deputy correctional services minister Hlengiwe Mkhize were among the mourners.
Tazne will be buried at the Modderdam Cemetery.
She had been missing for almost two weeks after last being seen walking to a tuck shop across the road from her home in Connaught Estate on February, 7.
Pangarker had been a person of interest in her kidnapping. He was arrested in Cradock last Tuesday. Tazne had not been with him.
After making his first appearance in the dock in the Eastern Cape town, he pointed out where her body was when he was transported back to Cape Town.
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