Johannesburg – Ekurhuleni mayor Mondli Gungubele has expressed shock at the murder of two toddlers in Zonkizizwe, Katlehong.

“Yesterday the country woke up to news of a similar nature in Diepsloot. Before we can even recover from that, we now have to deal with a similar traumatic incident in our backyard,” he said.

The toddlers, aged one and three, and their mother, were discovered by a person in the area.

Their mother was taken to hospital for treatment.

“Such barbaric acts against the most vulnerable and defenceless in our societies cannot continue unchallenged,” said Gungubele.

Gungubele said the country needed to intensify its campaign against the abuse of women and children.

According to an SABC report, the toddlers’ mother alleged that her husband dropped them at the field on their way from Witbank, in Mpumalanga, and that they had not known where they were.

They had slept in an abandoned house with half-built walls, the mother reportedly said.

She said her husband left them with a bottle of cool drink, which they drank on Tuesday night.

Lieutenant Colonel Lungelo Dlamini said a post mortem would confirm the cause of the children’s deaths.

“We suspect that they died of poisoning,” Dlamini said.

– SAPA