Cape Town - The mother of Tazne van Wyk was at a loss for words on Tuesday outside the Western Cape High Court after Acting Judge Alan Maher described the story and trial of Moyhdian Pangkaeker as the “epitome of the heart of darkness”.
The 57-year-old man was sentenced to nine life terms’ imprisonment, amounting to 259-and-a-half years in prison for the various crimes.
Parents Carmen van Wyk and Terence Manuel stood outside the court surrounded by the Elsies River community, supporting organisations and the media.
The 8-year-old girl’s mutilated body was found in a stormwater drain outside Worcester on February 19, 2020, 12 days after she went missing from her Connaught Estate, Elsies River, neighbourhood on February 7, 2020.
Van Wyk, holding a newborn baby wrapped in a warm blanket, said: “I have relief, but other than that, I don’t know what to say.”
Pangkaeker was convicted on 21 charges in October 2022. He was yesterday sentenced for murder, eight counts of rape of children, sexual assault and sexual exploitation of children, several counts of assault of children, kidnapping, incest, desecration of a corpse and absconding from parole.
As the frenzy of media surrounded the parents and new baby, Sandy Lawrence, a mother from Mitchells Plain who attended every court appearance moved away saying “victory”, knowing that at least one repeat offender had received a harsh sentence.
On Tuesday, Western Cape NPA spokesperson Eric Ntabazalila said: “Pangkaeker had run-ins with the law several times, especially with crimes involving children. In 2001, he kidnapped and killed his child.
“The Bellville Regional Court convicted and sentenced him to 10 years’ imprisonment for culpable homicide and kidnapping (abduction). He was also convicted for the neglect of his child,” he said.
Judge Maher said the court had an obligation to send a clear message to enable society’s confidence in the courts. He reiterated that rape was an “ugly, violent and degrading crime”.
“The accused poses a danger to society, and a danger in particular to women and children,” Maher said. He ordered Pangkaeker’s name be added to the National Register for Sex Offenders.
Maher said that although Pangkaeker’s lawyer, advocate Saleem Halday, had attempted to save his client from being profiled as a paedophile, “Pangkaeker can best be described as a predator who preys on young children.”
He stressed the seriousness of rape and its prevalence in South Africa, and referred to the high occurrence of gender-based violence.
Wing of Hope and Life founder Stephanie Henneker said: “He was an offender in the worst case one could ever imagine, so it was very hard for the parents to sit in that court and to listen to the crimes of this perpetrator.
“How he was let out time and time again, after failing his parole seven times in a row, he was still let out on our streets, and if the justice system hadn’t failed us then Tazne would still be alive today.
“We are not happy with how many times he was released on our streets. We are sad and this will never bring our little princess back, but at least it will keep other children safe from this perpetrator,” she said.
Reverend June Dolley Major in May lodged a complaint against the Department of Correctional Service (DCS) with the Public Protector’s Office to bring attention to the plight of victims who are caught in a wave of violence at the hands of parolees.
The reverend has been invited to a meeting with an advocate at the public protector’s office next week to determine whether the complaint has any prospect of success.