Moyhdian Pangkaeker, one of South Africa’s most notorious convicted child murderers, has died while serving multiple life sentences at Brandvlei Maximum Centre near Worcester in the Western Cape.
Authorities confirmed that Pangkaeker died in his sleep on Tuesday.
According to the Department of Correctional Services (DCS), prison officials discovered his body during routine rounds and notified his family.
DCS spokesperson Singabakho Nxumalo confirmed that Pangkaeker had been serving nine life terms, along with several additional sentences for an extensive list of violent and sexual offences.
These included rape, assault, indecent assault, kidnapping, corpse violation, child exploitation, murder, and absconding from parole.
A crime that shocked the nation
Pangkaeker’s most infamous crime was the kidnapping, rape and murder of eight-year-old Tazne van Wyk in February 2020.
Tazne was abducted while walking to a tuck shop near her home in Connaught Estate, Worcester.
After almost two weeks of intensive searching, her body was found dumped in a stormwater drain. Investigators revealed she had been raped, beaten and mutilated.
The brutality of the crime drew nationwide outrage.
Thousands attended her funeral at the Uniting Reformed Church in Elsies River, where communities demanded accountability and justice.
A long history of violent crime
Pangkaeker’s criminal record stretched back to the 1980s and included convictions for:
- theft
- housebreaking
- assault
- culpable homicide
- child neglect
- an earlier murder
- multiple sexual offences
He had absconded from parole in 2015, evaded authorities for years, and remained under supervision until 2019.
In October 2022, the Western Cape High Court convicted him on dozens of charges, handing down multiple life sentences that effectively ensured he would never leave prison.
Case closes, trauma remains
While Pangkaeker’s death brings an administrative end to the judicial process, the trauma he inflicted continues to reverberate through Tazne’s family and the wider community.
His passing will not erase the profound and lasting impact of his crimes.
