In 2017, seven-year-old Thabang was brought to the Sexual Assault Clinic in Benoni following allegations of severe child abuse.

At the time, the Clinic was led by its founder, Christina Rollin, Director of the Independent Child Protection Unit and a practising Forensic Nurse specialist. Christina attended to Thabang personally and was confronted with unimaginable injuries covering his small body—injuries allegedly inflicted by his own family members.

Christina worked tirelessly for hours to secure Thabang’s safety, issuing urgent warnings that returning him to his family would place his life in grave danger. She trusted that those tasked with protecting him would heed the warnings. Tragically, she was wrong.

In December 2019, Christina received a devastating call from the Murder and Robbery Unit: Thabang had been brutally tortured and killed. The very system designed to protect him had instead returned him to the very people intent on ending his life—and they succeeded.

Shaken but resolute, Christina founded the Independent Child Protection Unit (ICPU) in January 2020, vowing that justice would be served for Thabang and for the countless other children failed by the child protection system

Yet when Christina and her team sought out Thabang’s murder docket, they found nothing. No record. No acknowledgement. 

His story, like his life, had been erased—until now.

An Advocate from the National Prosecuting Authority has uncovered Thabang’s “cold case” and is determined to pursue justice on his behalf. The ICPU has pledged its full cooperation and is equally committed to ensuring that every individual—whether by action or by inaction—who contributed to Thabang’s death will be held accountable.