JUSTICE IS SERVED

Thanks to police captain Martino Plaatiies, a merciless child murderer has been given nine life sentences

- NASIFA SULAIMAN

HE HEAVED a sigh of relief when the judge handed down the verdict. The man he’d spent hours hunting, who’d ruined the lives of so many women and children, was going to be locked away for a long time – and the community he’d terrorised would sleep easier knowing they were free of a monster. 

Captain Martino Plaatjies had spent the past two years working around the clock trying to see justice served and that day finally came a few weeks ago. 

In a case that made headlines around the country, the man convicted of the rape and murder of eight-year-old Tazne Van Wyk was handed nine life sentences for abducting, raping and killing her in February 2020. 

The convicted child murderer was out on parole when he lured Tazne from her home and drove her to Worcester, outside of Cape Town, stopping to rape her along the N1 highway. 

Twelve days after she was taken, her lifeless body was found in a stormwater pipe on the N1 outside Worcester. Tazne died of blunt force trauma to her head. She also had injuries to her chest, neck and pelvic area, and her right hand was sawn off. 

Two weeks after her gruesome murder, a 57-year-old suspect was arrested in the Eastern Cape and charged with her abduction and murder. The man was recently convicted on 21 of 27 charges, including eight counts of rape, sexual exploitation of children, incest and kidnapping. 

His own daughter and granddaughter are among those he was convicted of raping and beating. To protect his other victims, YOU won’t publish his identity even though he’s been named in court.