THE STAR | By Baldwin Ndaba | March 23, 2006
Four-year-old
Jandre Botha refused to call his mother's lesbian lover "daddy" - and paid
with his life.
Jandre's father, Jan Botha, was in the Vereeniging regional court's public
gallery on Wednesday when his former wife, Hanelie Botha, 31, and her partner,
Engeline de Nysschen, 33, were found guilty of the gruesome murder of his son.
He sat in court holding the hands of his fiancée, Yolanda Deysel, and listened
attentively to magistrate Rita Willemse, who, in her judgment, accepted
evidence that among the reasons that led to Jandre's brutal ordeal was his
refusal to call De Nysschen "daddy".
The court had heard evidence from Lydia Nkomo and her daughter Aletta Lesiba,
who worked for the couple in their tuckshop, that De Nysschen had viciously
assaulted Jandre while demanding that he must call her "daddy".
| 'His mother should have been aware of this' |
Both testified that while
Jandre was assaulted, his mother failed to intervene or protect him. Evidence
showed he had sustained horrific injuries, including a fractured skull and
brain damage, as well as broken legs, collarbone, hands and pelvis.
The court accepted the evidence of Professor Mohammed Dada, a trauma expert,
who said the boy's injuries were similar to those of a person who had fallen
from a double-storey building.
Delivering judgment, Willemse acknowledged there was no substantial evidence
linking Hanelie to the assaults, but said she was equally guilty of murder for
failing in her legal duty to protect her child against abuse and violation.
The court found she had lied to Dr Elna Gibson, one of the medical doctors who
treated Jandre, by saying the boy obtained his injuries after he had slipped
in the bath.
The court ruled that she had lied to protect De Nysschen. The doctors who had
examined Jandre dismissed the pair's version that he had slipped in the bath.
They said excessive force was required to inflict the kind of fatal injuries
sustained by Jandre.
| 'She did nothing to protect her own child' |
Convicting
the two, Willemse dismissed their version and said there was substantial
medical evidence before her about the nature of the injuries suffered by
Jandre.
"I accept the evidence of the medical personnel who are experts in their
fields. There were substantial documents placed before me. Most of them have
medical experience which spans over a period of 15 years.
"All of them have dismissed the version of the accused and were unanimous that
the deceased's injuries were inflicted over a period of time.
"It is unthinkable that the mother of the child could not have known about
these fatal injuries. The deceased also had broken legs, and his mother should
have been aware of this."
The magistrate criticised Hanelie for failing to report Jandre's abuse at the
hands of her lover to the social workers monitoring Jandre's progress, after
she had gained custody of him during a lengthy court battle with her
ex-husband. She also failed to report the abuse to her ex-husband.
The boy's father became aware of Jandre's abuse only on the day of his death,
June 12, 2003. De Nysschen contacted him and said Jandre had fallen earlier in
the day and had died.
Willemse criticised Hanelie's fitness to be a mother, saying her parents later
approached her ex-husband and gave him financial help to fight for the custody
of his child.
Rebuking Hanelie, Willemse said: "Hanelie was not helpless. She was well aware
of Engeline's violent outburst.
"She could have called the child's father for help but she failed to do so.
She did nothing to protect her own child."
The magistrate labelled Engeline a liar and a hopeless witness who had
contradicted herself in testimony.
Hanelie and De Nysschen were further convicted of assault with intent to do
grievous bodily harm and child neglect for failing to provide or seek
treatment for Jandre's limb fractures.
The case was postponed until June 26 for a pre-sentencing report.
- This article was originally published on page 1 of The Star on March 23, 2006
