Evil prevails when good people do nothing, as the saying goes.
That was the case with the Saadiqah Lippert murder trial when it got thrown out of the High Court this week.
Two suspected gangsters, Samier Slamang and Waylon Botha, had been accused of shooting the six-year-old girl dead in front of her ouma’s Bokmakierie house in May.
But on Monday, all 13 charges, including murder and attempted murder, against the two were dropped - just like that, finish en klaar.
Justice denied.
It was a sudden and devastating blow to Saadiqah’s family.
Justice had failed the little girl, except this time the courts weren’t to blame.
You couldn’t blame the police for a sloppy investigation, botched evidence or missing documents, as is too often the case.
ACQUITTED: Samier Slamang, 24
This time it was Saadiqah’s own community - her family and neighbours - who blew it and let her down.
Four witnesses were called to testify in the High Court.
They didn’t appear, claiming they had been intimidated.
In the community, there was talk of threats, no doubt there was real cause for fear.
So the court issued four warrants of arrest for the witnesses.
One of them, Saadiqah’s uncle Shaheen Haas, could not provide evidence of the threats on his family, and the judge had him locked up for 18 months.
Serious.
When the witnesses did take the stand, their testimony was full of holes, differing from their original statements to police.
Different people appeared and disappeared from their version of events. Different makes of cars were used. Nothing added up.
The defence was getting gatvol of all the discrepancies, as did the judge, who in the end called the state’s case weak, and the witnesses unreliable, before chucking the case out.
What else could Judge A. Langa do?
Waylon Botha, 22
In the end, Slamang and Botha were not found to be guilty or innocent. There simply was no case.
Sadly, Saadiqah’s own mense had already written the script and the outcome for her murder trial.
They had given in to fear, to alleged gangsters, and denied justice to a child.
They also guaranteed the freedom of two known skollies, allowing them to continue to sow fear in the neighbourhood.
If only more people could take a stand and have the courage to do the right thing, they’d help to make their communities a safer place.
Mense need to be strong and unite against crime, with the help of the police.
That’s the only way we are going to save our communities.