A broken town tries to be decent
Brakpan, famous for all the wrong reasons, is a community with two faces, writes Aarti J Narsee
THERE is a traditional lullaby that resonates with residents of Brakpan, the rundown town east of Johannesburg where four-year-old Jasmin Pretorius was killed last year.
“Siembamba, mamma se kindjie, Siembamba, mamma se kindjie, draai sy nek om, gooi hom in die sloot, trap op sy kop dan is hy dood (Siembamba, mommy’s baby, wring his neck, throw him in the ditch, step on his head and then he is dead).”
The lyrics linger like Jasmin’s memory in Brakpan, a town that defines “zef”. Zombie-like residents wander the streets, swigging cheap liquor from brown paper bags in scenes that could have sprung from the camera of Roger Ballen, who is known for his pictures of South Africa’s down-and-outs.
A photograph of Jasmin is stuck to a mirror in Hippo’s, a local pub frequented by bikers from clubs such as the Hell’s Angels, Eagles and Warlocks.
“Jazzie Fizzle”, as she was known, is smiling and wearing the colours jacket of a motorcycle club in the picture, a symbol of the posthumous solidarity felt for her by the pub’s patrons.
The search for Jasmin, who was reported missing on December 28, began just behind Hippo’s at the Jan Smuts Dam, where the stench of waste and decay fills the air.
Every search for a missing person in Brakpan starts there, says Hippo’s owner, Saartjie Lotter, 50. More than one body has ended up in the dam, its limegreen water as difficult to fathom as the complex community of Brakpan itself .
Jasmin’s body was discovered under a bed in her home on the same day she disappeared. The police found it after her uncle, Sarel du Toit, allegedly confessed to having strangled and raped her.
Her death cast a spotlight on the people of Brakpan, who are often denigrated by outsiders as “tappet”, slang for stupid or worthless. But Jasmin’s death mobilised the community.
The Pink Ladies, a nonprofit organisation that focuses on finding missing children, began to distribute flyers.
When Du Toit appeared in the Brakpan Magistrate’s Court, crowds gathered outside to bay for his blood.
Some said they wanted to “look him in the eye”, others threatened to kill not only him, but other family members as well. The police placed Jasmin’s parents, Morné Pretorius and Sasha Bam, in protective custody after enraged townsfolk accused them of child neglect.
The conflicting combination of protective and violent impulses is pervasive in Brakpan — in Hippo’s, Lotter enforces decorum with a sjambok. She says this keeps drugs out of her pub. Locals say the abuse of marijuana and “cat” (methcathinone) is widespread in the town. Cheap liquor and illegal cigarettes, which can be bought for R6 a packet, are widely available.
According to the privately run service Crime Statistics South Africa, 18 murders, 84 sex crimes and 265 drug-related crimes were reported in Brakpan in 2012-13. Four cases of neglect and ill-treatment of children
As soon as you move to another town your life will become better
were reported.
George Nell, principal of Brakpan’s Hoërskool Die Anker for the past two decades, says “children are constantly suffering” because of parental neglect and abuse, and exploited for drugs.
This perception of neglect sparked the community’s reaction of “shock and anger” after news of Jasmin’s death, he says.
Pretorius was out drinking with his girlfriend on the night his daughter was killed. His halfbrother, Du Toit, was babysitting Jasmin and her six-yearold sister.
Brakpan is a community of apparent contradictions. On the one hand residents complain about immigrants owning all the businesses, but on the other they are accepting of a thriving gay community. Du Toit, who was nicknamed “Pikmuis” as a child because of his pointy ears, was part of the gay scene.
Along with the initial calls for blood, Jasmin’s death sparked campaigns to raise awareness about child abuse.
A local school held a march against crime and abuse, and community activist Janine Coldbeck, 32, started the Help a Kiddy and Fight Against Child Abuse Facebook page.
Comments on the page appealing for hand-me-down clothes, nappies and baby formula reflect the desperation of the locals, many of whom are unemployed.
One complaint to Coldbeck describes a 14-year-old being beaten by his father with a cricket bat. The boy’s stepmother allegedly stabbed his sister.
Coldbeck says drug dealers target children outside schools and some as young as seven score drugs for their parents.
Last month, a 23-year-old woman was arrested after 14 packets of “cat” valued at R1 400 were found in the nappy of a twomonth-old baby who had allegedly been abducted.
“It starts with drugs and then the child abuse comes,” says Coldbeck.
She says Brakpan has become more rundown since she was young, when she was able to play in the streets until 11pm or later.
Now young people are bored, resorting to drugs and other criminal activity, she says. Everything is broken — much like the community’s selfesteem.
“My uncle used to say that if you stay in Brakpan you will stay poor, but as soon as you move to another town your life will become better,” says Coldbeck.
Sarel du Toit is scheduled to appear in court again on May 6