Mother Sentenced for Murder of Her Child

11 APRIL 2025


Mother Sentenced for Murder of Her Child

The Pretoria High Court, sitting in Benoni, has sentenced a 40-year-old mother from Dunnottar in Nigel to eight years’ imprisonment, wholly suspended for five years, on condition that she is not convicted of murder during the period of suspension. This follows her conviction for the murder of her 16-year-old son and the attempted murder of her 7-year-old daughter.

On 06 June 2022, the woman fed her two minor children food laced with poisoned food, a 16-year-old boy and a 7-year-old girl. 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. Emergency services were called, and the children were transported to Frankfort Hospital where the son died.


In her plea, the mother stated that she had also confessed her actions to the doctor at the hospital. 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

The 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.

Issued by:

Lumka Mahanjana
NPA Regional Spokesperson
Gauteng Division: Pretoria
073 002 0000
lmahanjana@npa.gov.za