Police under fire for bungled search

Police have confirmed that an internal investigation has been launched into allegations of police incompetence in the search for the granddaughter of Transvaal Judge Bernard Ngoepe. A large-scale search was launched for four-year-old Makgabo Matlala on Wednesday, after four men entered her family home in Lenasia South and gang-raped the domestic worker before fleeing with household goods. Police initially thought the girl had been kidnapped, but discovered her body under a bed in the house yesterday. National Police Chief Jackie Selebi has expressed his anger at what he calls police incompetence in failing to find the child’s body sooner.