The funeral of murdered three-year-old Courtney Pieters was attended by hundreds of mourners in Elsies River in Cape Town on Saturday morning.
Photo from ANA
Community members turned up in large numbers to show their support to the family at the Adriaanse Community Centre in Elsies River.
After several tributes to the murdered toddler, her cousins sang a song paying tribute to the short life she had lived with them.
Courtney’s mother Juanita Pieters was just as emotional in the hall as she had been when she carried the body of her child into their Pluto Street home for the last time. After arriving in the hall, she remained seated in the same place, staring in disbelief at the coffin of her little girl.
Earlier, the funeral got underway with a ride past by a local motorcycle club, a brass band, and a cadet regiment.
Hundreds of residents had earlier also taken part in a peace march from the nearby Elsies River High School.
The rape and murder of the little girl shocked South Africa, with President Jacob Zuma, Police Minister Fikile Mbalula, and Western Cape community safety MEC Dan Plato all taking turns to visit the family this past week.
Zuma had also visited the site in nearby Epping where Courtney’s body was discovered last Saturday, nine days after she went missing.
In a statement issued by the presidency earlier this week, Zuma expressed shock and repulsion at Courtney’s murder and other similar cases around the country where women and children had been violently attacked.
A 40-year-old man who lived with the Pieters family appeared in the Goodwood Magistrate’s Court on Wednesday charged with Courtney’s rape and murder.
Courtney was buried at the Modderdam Road cemetery in Belhar.
