Tazne van Wyk: Case against Moehydien Pangaker postponed

Emotions were running high at the Goodwood Magistrate’s Court on Friday 21 February, as 54-year-old Moehydien Pangaker was expected to appear for the alleged kidnapping and murder of eight-year-old Tazne van Wyk. 

According to Voice of the Cape, the case has since been postponed and Pangaker will remain in custody until his next court date on 17 April. 

Unrest after another case of gender-based violence 

After countless acts of gender-based violence that has swept the nation — at an alarming rate in the last year — furious community members have had enough. To make matters worse, it points to a failed correctional system where many prisoners are being released on parole just to commit another crime — Pangaker an example of this.

The untimely death of innocent Van Wyk seems to be the last straw — as members of the community — are alleged to have forced their way into the court. 

According to Western Cape traffic chief Kenny Africa and provincial traffic spokesperson Gaytham Cornelius, Voortrekker Road also had to be cordoned off due to angry crowds.

Tazne van Wyk found in stormwater pipe 

Pangaker was arrested in Cradock in the Eastern Cape on Monday 17 February. On his return to the Western Cape on Wednesday 19 February, he led police to a stormwater pipe near Worcester where Van Wyk’s body was cruelly dumped.

Van Wyk’s parents, according to police, have been receiving counselling from social workers to help them through, a no-doubt tragic experience. 

Van Wyk went missing on Friday 7 February. She was last seen by her father in Claire Street, Connaught Estate, in Elsies River, on her way to a nearby tuck shop. 

“Tazne was last seen wearing a red-and-white top and red shorts. She can further be identified by the scar on her left hand from a prior operation, a missing tooth in her upper jaw, brown eyes and black hair. She is roughly 20kgs and is 1.5m in height,” said Western Cape Minister of Community Safety Albert Fritz.  

Western Cape provincial police commissioner Lieutenant General Yolisa Matakata said: 

“In a province that is notorious for crimes against women and children, we reiterate our resolve to ensure the perpetrators of these heinous acts are brought to book in order to face the full might of the law.”