FATHER SENTENCED TO SEVEN YEARS FOR CHILD’S DEATH

The High Court of South Africa; North West Division sitting at the Klerksdorp Regional Court, sentenced Mokete Legodi (48), to seven (7) years of direct imprisonment for the death of his two-year-old, the court sentenced him to six years for culpable homicide and four years for deafening the ends of justice. Legodi is facing a murder charge against his two-year-old daughter. The sentence should run concurrently with the three-year sentence, resulting in six years of direct imprisonment. He was further declared unfit to possess a firearm, and his application for leave to appeal the sentence was dismissed.

Legodi’s conviction comes after a lifeless body of a toddler, was discovered inside the ceiling of his residential home in Alabama, near Klerksdorp. He was charged with kidnapping and murder of his two-year-old daughter, as well as defeating the ends of justice. He was acquitted on a kidnapping charge, and the murder charge was also changed to culpable homicide. It is alleged that on Thursday 13 May 2021, Legodi went to his girlfriend’s home at extension 20, in Joubert, and took their daughter without the consent of the mother who was admitted to the hospital at the time.

The family members who were taking care of the child assumed he would bring her back as he usually did, but later upon inquiry, he denied taking the child. On 14 May 2021, when the mother got discharged from the hospital, she went searching for the baby with the help of family members, but they could not find her. She went to Jouberton Police Station, the next day where a case of a missing person was opened. Further investigations by the police led to the arrest of Legodi on Sunday,16 May 2021. He was charged with kidnapping, after failing to tell the police about the child’s whereabouts.

It is alleged that on Monday, 17 May 2021, following a bad smell coming from Legodi’s house, the neighbours together with the child’s cousin investigated, and discovered the lifeless body of the child concealed inside the ceiling, wrapped in a black plastic bag. In his defence, Legodi argued that he and the child fell while he was carrying her and upon realising that the child had died from the fall, he panicked, and was afraid to report the incident. He also told the court that he had consumed alcohol on the day of the incident.

In aggravation of sentence, Adv Riekie Krause argued that Legodi could have reported the matter to the police, and sought help from neighbours and emergency services, but he opted for the worst. Judge Andre Pietersen, agreed with the state, and further indicated that the community frowns over such offences and the undesired psychological and emotional consequences that it leaves the family of the deceased with.

The Director of Public Prosecutions in the North West, Dr Rachel Makhari Sekhaolelo lauded the prosecutor and the investigating officer for their collaboration. “This sentence signifies the need for parents to be the first line of protection for their children. It further teaches us the importance of reporting the crime to authorities, no matter how difficult it may seem”, she concluded.