Pretoria - Plans are afoot to start an agricultural project in Soshanguve in honour of the late Ntsako Secondary School learner, Palesa Malatji, who was gruesomely murdered and raped last month on her way home from extra classes.
The incident took place at an unkempt park behind Echibini Secondary School, where 17-year-old Malatji’s sexually assaulted body was found.
School governing body chairperson Dan Mosia said the proposed agricultural project would address the problem of crime in open spaces used as hideouts for criminals.
He expressed concerns that criminals often ambush unsuspecting young people in open spaces.
Other people, he said, would invade spaces by putting up shacks or starting scrap yards despite the fact that “there are no projects to develop the community”.
“We believe that an agricultural project can assist in uplifting the community. We have so far identified at least three open spaces which can be used for agricultural purposes. Our aim is to encourage the youth to be part of it and to keep them off the streets,” Mosia said.
ActionSA PR councillor Kholofelo Morodi, who is also the City of Tshwane’s municipal public account committee chairperson, expressed her support for the project. Her political party would assist the SGB to get it off the ground, she said.
“We wanted to honour her (Palesa’s) memory. When we met the governing body they said the biggest problem was the park overgrown with grass. That is where she was raped and murdered. We wanted to turn that into something that would create a memory for her,” she said.
Morodi said her party’s councillors contacted the school and the school governing body head suggested an agricultural project. “We will help them to set up the project and our activists and councillors are there to help them to clean up and do some physical work. The project is still at a plenary stage. We still need to do the actual work. We haven’t started planting anything, but it will definitely be done. We are hoping that the project would help the school to sustain itself and even the parents who would work on the project as well,” she said.
Last month, the Tshwane council speaker Mncedi Ndzwanana led a clean-up campaign at the park, including fixing street lights in the area.
Police Minister Bheki Cele said more suspects had been taken in in connection with the murder and that forensic analysts collected DNA evidence. Further samples were taken from people interviewed by the police.
Pretoria News