Democratic Alliance leader Mmusi Maimane says he is disturbed by the killing of a nine-year-old child in Chatsworth‚ Durban‚ in a botched hijacking this week and wrote personal notes to her parents trying to console them.

A deeply moved Maimane said he takes his children to school whenever he can and‚ as a parent‚ was haunted at the thought of the little girl being shot and killed on the school run.

“I’m devastated as a father‚” he said.

Maimane attended the highly emotional funeral service of Sadia Sukhraj at the Christian Revival Centre on Tuesday where he prayed aloud over her coffin. Members of the community joined in the prayer as he asked for peace for the nation and safety for South Africa’s children.

“I didn’t go there as leader of the DA. The child who was killed wasn’t a DA member. I went there as a father. My daughter is seven‚ that child was nine‚” he said.

-For more on this story‚ please visit Times Select.