The high court in Western Cape has sentenced Moehydian Pangaker to nine life terms for the rape of young children.
The 57-year-old was convicted of kidnapping and murdering eight-year-old Tazne van Wyk in 2020. He committed the gruesome murder while out on parole and the child’s murder made headlines in the media.
In October 2022, he was found guilty of 21 of 25 charges he was facing, four related to Tazne. The charges included eight counts of rape of children including some of his relatives, sexual assault, sexual exploitation of children, kidnapping, incest, description, and absconding from parole.
When judge Alan Maher delivered his judgment in October, he described Pangaker as a sexual predator with a high sex drive who preyed on little girls.
During the grueling trial, 80 state witnesses testified. Thirty-seven witnesses testified in court and some testimonies were conducted in camera.
Tazne was last seen walking to a tuck shop near her Elsies River home in the Western Cape. Following his arrest a week later in Cradock, Eastern Cape Pangaker led the police to the girl’s mutilated body in a stormwater drain along the N1 highway near Worcester in the Western Cape.
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