Baby Nikita laid to rest as community rallies against child abuse

The recent surge in the number of child abuse cases within Coloured and black communities has prompted an outcry, with calls for mothers, parents, and communities to protect their children against violence and sexual abuse.

This comes as a strong contingent of family members, friends, and the entire community of Eldorado Park descended on the Don Mateman Hall as they paid their last respect to the four-year-old Baby Nikita, who died over two weeks ago.

The child's death sparked outrage across the community after it was revealed that the 32-year-old father, who remains in custody having appeared in court, is alleged to have physically and sexually abused the child, while the 39-year-old mother is accused of failing to report this abuse to the authorities.

The emotionally charged and sombre send-off, attended by ActionSA leader Herman Mashaba, Speaker of the City of Joburg Council, Margaret Arnolds, EFF provincial chairperson, Nkululeko Dunga, and Bishop Dalton Adams, among others, saw mourners reflect on the scourge of GBVF and violence against children.

Adams called for Coloured women to rise and take charge of their lives to dispel the belief that Coloured women are crazy and undeserving to raise children the proper way.

"Where do we go from here as we leave the church service to bury Baby Nikita. We cannot just walk away, as it would be a sad indictment of us as a people. We need to change the stage that we find ourselves in. We must speak to young women. We have lost Joslyn Smith, Jayden-Lee Meek, and now Baby Nikita, whose death has brought us here.

"These cases have provided unprecedented outrage and anger, and we condemn these acts of violence perpetrated by parents, as these tragedies do not exist in a political and social vacuum. These stories paint Coloured women as uncaring and intensely crazy. They are seen as loose,  immoral, violent, and deficient to the point that they are seen as unfit for motherhood. I say we must condemn and dispel this narrative," stated Adams.

The tragedy which befell Baby Nikita has united the community of Eldorado Park following the arrest of the child's father and mother, who both appeared in the Protea Magistrate's Court on Monday, where they both abandoned their bail application.

While the father faces charges of murder, rape, compelled rape, assault to cause grievous bodily harm, and child abuse, the mother is facing one charge of failing to report a sexual offence.

Reacting to their decision to abandon their bail application, the leader of the community, Chief Xam, Keith Duarte, said: "If she had survived the abuse, she would have been traumatised. We are mourning, and as a community, we have pledged that and we will remember her.

"As an activist in the community, I believe that the parents made the right decision by abandoning their bail application. Out here in Eldorado Park, they would not have been received very well. We would have given them a hard time, and they would have committed suicide, and from my side, the mother and the father are better off inside."

"Today is a sad day for the community of Eldorado Park, and being an activist on the ground and working to protect children, this should not have happened.

"This is a tragic situation. We want to send out a strong message that if you see something, say something, and do not leave children, and say, 'This is not my business'," said another community activist, Cheryl Pillay.

Speaking to members of the media outside the hall, the CoJ Speaker said parents should be the ones protecting their kids from harm and not exposing them to danger.

"If we are the ones killing and raping our children, where are they safe? That is the question that we as parents, mothers, and fathers need to ask ourselves."

John Edward Vaalytn, Baby Nikita's uncle, speaking on behalf of the family, described the tragedy as nothing but murder, as anyone who abuses their child is not doing so by accident. 

Baby Nikita was laid to rest at the Nasrec Cemetery in Soweto.

siyabonga.sithole@inl.co.za