Anger as Asheeqah Scott case is postponed again

The sentencing of convicted child killer Pieter van Tonder was again postponed in the Western Cape High Court on Wednesday - this time because the court felt the accused needed an interpreter.

This is the THIRD time that Van Tonder’s sentencing has been postponed.

Van Tonder initially had to be sentenced in February but was sent for evaluation at Valkenberg.

In March, his medical evaluation was still outstanding and another postponement was granted.

In October last year, Van Tonder admitted to brutally killing his girlfriend’s one-year-old toddler in Roosendal, Delft in 2016.

Little Asheeqah Scott was burnt with cigarettes, strangled and beaten to death.

The tiny tot sustained burn wounds, contusions and abrasions, but the ultimate cause of death was blunt force trauma to the head, the court heard.

Van Tonder had to be sentenced on Wednesday, but presiding judge Mushtak Parker felt he needed an interpreter to translate in Afrikaans as the “legal jargon in the sentencing documents could get technical”.

“We will have to adjourn for two days for an interpreter. Mr. Van Tonder, you need to fully understand why, and understand the message the court is trying to bring across. Do you understand?” Parker asked him, to which Van Tonder nodded in agreement.

Outside court, Asheeqah’s grieving mother, Shaakierah Scott, 29, says the postponements are just causing strain on the family.

“Today [Wednesday] I rushed to get to court, now it is postponed again. The way I feel is that this case had to be over a long time ago. Asheeqah has been gone for nearly two years. We also struggle to get a way to get to court and to come for a postponement is not right. Last time he [Van Tonder] didn’t need an interpreter, why now? Hy’s net aspris,” a frustrated Shaakierah said.

The matter resumes on Friday.

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