Dad found guilty of daughter’s murder

The panga lay on the edge of the table a few metres from where Rashaad Kruger sat in the dock - almost bewildered - as he waited to hear his fate.

Like a silent witness to the trial, the panga - almost the length of a man’s arm from wrist to elbow - had been used to kill Kruger’s 13-year-old daughter, Moneba.

And, as Judge Nonkosi Saba determined on Tuesday at the Western Cape High Court, it was Kruger who had used it to kill her.

Kruger was also found guilty of incitement, among other things.

“All evidence points to (Kruger) as the murderer,” said Judge Saba while Kruger, who has a long list of offences, stared blankly ahead.

He seemed frail and vulnerable in the dock and had to be helped by police officials regularly as he was shuffled in chains across the courtroom floor.

Moneba was expected to testify against Kruger after he attempted to rape one of her friends, but Kruger silenced her permanently instead.

Moneba’s mother found her body in a pool of blood after the incident in 2008.

Moneba had been so severely wounded that the state pathologist had testified that she would have been dead within minutes due to the “massive bleeding” as a result.

Her bedroom door had been locked with two padlocks - one of which belonged to Kruger.

Judge Saba said that it was clear that because Moneba planned to move out of the house on the day of her murder to be away from her father, it implied “strongly that she was willing to testify against him”.

“From the injuries she sustained, it is clear that (Kruger) had a direct intention to kill (Moneba).

“I am of the view that it was premeditated,” said Judge Saba, adding that because Kruger was sure Moneba would testify against him and that she would leave his home that day to live with her aunt, among other things, it was a case of “now or never”.

She said Kruger had made sure that Moneba made no noise, by covering her mouth tightly as he slit her throat.

“Kruger’s version is lies and it’s improbable,” she said.

“He changed his version each time he was put into a corner.”

Judge Saba said she had found the testimony of Moneba’s friend, whom Kruger had allegedly attempted to rape, and that of his son, Igshaan to be “competent and credible”.

It was the State’s case that Igshaan had rescued the friend from their bathroom after Kruger had lured her into it before holding a panga to her throat and forcing her to remove her underwear. She refused and screamed, prompting Igshaan to kick in the door.

Sentencing proceedings are expected to start today. - Cape Times

aeysha.kassiem@inl.co.za