In a case that bears horrific similarities to that of Courtney Pieters, a Manenberg man this week confessed to raping and killing his friend’s two-year-old daughter.
On Monday, Willie Simons appeared in the Western Cape High Court where he pleaded guilty to the murder of little Zaakierah Hendricks in February 2016.
A post-mortem examination revealed the tiny tot was strangled to death, while she had a “gaping anus” with pubic hair protruding from it.
Simons, a family friend, apologised for what he did to the little girl, who had been left in his care by her mother, Zayda Hendricks.
Zayda, who said she trusted him, had gone to a party and returned the following morning.
She told cops she found Zaakierah “icy cold and barely breathing” and rushed her to a hospital where she was declared dead on arrival.
In his plea statement, Simons admitted he had raped and killed the toddler.
Simons said on the fateful day, he was at a house party in Manenberg and carried Zaakierah into a Wendy house in the yard where he put her down to sleep.
He said he gave the tot a bottle, removed her nappy, then raped her anally while holding his hand over her mouth so she did not make a noise.
He then strangled her to death with his bare hands.
“I realised that my action could result in her death, but I continued nonetheless,” he said.
“The deceased was found by her mother, Zayda Hendricks, on 28 February 2016 on the bed where I left her.
“I humbly ask for forgiveness from the family of the deceased.”
On Tuesday, Zaakierah’s ouma Jeanette Daniels said although she will never recover from her grandchild’s horrible death, she had forgiven Simons for what he had done.
“She was a tiny baby and I’m feeling so sad. She could have been a mother one day and have her own children, but that choice was taken away from her before she had a chance.
Willie Simons has been found guilty of child’s rape and murder. Photo: Francesca Villette/Cape Times
“I have already forgiven Simons and am leaving the rest to God,” the hartseer granny said.
Acting Judge Murray Bridgeman found Simons guilty of murder and rape and the matter was postponed to 10 December for sentencing proceedings.
Last week, a family friend and boarder Mortimer Saunders was found guilty of the rape and murder of Courtney Pieters, 3, from Elsies River in May 2017.
He admitted to feeding the child ant poison because she had been making a noise in his bedroom.
While he denied raping her, the court said forensic evidence found the tot had been raped while she was alive as she had semen inside her vaginal cavity.