By OBAKENG MAJE
11 April 2025- A mother (40) from Dunnottar in Nigel was sentenced to eight years by the Gauteng High Court sitting in Benoni for the murder of her daughter. The sentence is wholly suspended for five years on condition that she is not convicted of murder during that period.
The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) regional spokesperson in Gauteng, Lumka Mahanjana said this follows her conviction for the murder of her son (16) and an attempted murder of her daughter (7). Mahanjana said on 6 June 2022, the woman fed her two minor children food laced with poisoned food.
“This occurred shortly after she had fallen victim to a financial scam and was unable to pay her children’s school fees. She had also recently discovered that she had contracted a disease.
“After feeding the poisoned food to her children, she drove with them toward the Free State Province. Upon reaching Frankfort, the children began to fall ill. She stopped at a local filling station, requested assistance, and disclosed what she had done,” she said.
Mahanjana further said emergency services were called, and the children were transported to Frankfort Hospital, where the son died. She added that, in her plea, the mother stated that she had also confessed her actions to the doctor at the hospital.
“The police were called and she was arrested, though later released on bail. During the mitigation of sentence, she asked the court to deviate from imposing the prescribed life sentence because she was the primary caregiver of her surviving daughter.
“She also told the court that she was remorseful of her actions and at the time of the incident she was not in the right frame of mind due to her recent diagnosis,” said Mahanjana.
The state prosecutor, advocate Jeffery Nethononda, urged the court to impose a sentence that reflects the seriousness of the offence and argued against deviating from the prescribed minimum sentence, given that the crimes were committed against her children. The father of the deceased child was also called to testify for victim impact.
“He testified that while he has forgiven the mother, he continues to struggle with the pain of losing his son. In delivering the sentence, acting Judge Van der Westhuizen, found that there were substantial and compelling circumstances to deviate from the prescribed life sentence.
“The court considered the mother’s genuine remorse, the fact that she is the primary caregiver of her surviving child, the betrayal and the emotional trauma she suffered from the father of her daughter and her mental health challenges, including depression, at the time of the incident,” she said.
The Guardian 