SA Furious As Ekurhuleni Mother Receives Suspended Sentence for Poisoning Son to Death
- A woman from Nigel in Ekurhuleni was given a suspended sentence after she killed her 16 year-old son and attempted to kill her daughter
- She had fallen ill after she was scammed and could no longer pay for her children's school fees
- She poisoned them and the courts gave her leniency; the judgment angered many South Africans
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Tebogo Mokwena, a Briefly News current affairs journalist in Johannesburg, South Africa, covered criminal activities, cash-in-transit heists, police investigations, police shootouts and court cases at Daily Sun for over three years.
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BENONI, EKURHULENI — South Africans were livid after the Pretoria High Court passed a suspended sentence to a woman who killed her son and attempted to kill her daughter in 2022.
Why did the woman kill her son?
According to TimesLIVE, the Pretoria High Court sitting was held in Benoni, Ekurhuleni. The woman, a 40-year-old mother, poisoned her 16-year-old son and her seven year-old daughter. She fell victim to a scam which left her financially destitute, and she also fell ill.
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After she poisoned her children, she drove to the Free State with them. She reached Frankfort and stopped at a filling station once the children began falling ill. She asked for help and confessed to what she did. The emergency services arrived and transported her children to Frankfort Hospital. She confessed to poisoning her children to the doctor. Her son died in the hospital. She was arrested and given R5000 bail.
Why was she given a suspended sentence?
The distraught mother asked the court to spare her because she was the primary caregiver of her daughter, who survived. She also said she was not in the right frame of mind when she poisoned her children, and was remorseful. By contrast, Jeffrey Nthononda, the prosecutor, urged the court to sentence her according to the seriousness of her offence. He also said the minimum sentence must be prescribed because she committed the crimes against children.
The court found that there was enough evidence to deviate from giving her a life sentence. It also considered the emotional trauma she experienced from the father of her child, her mental health challenges, her remorse and her position as the primary caregiver.
Sentences involving mothers
A mother received a suspended sentence in March this year for submitting fraudulent medical aid claims. She admitted her daughter using false details in 2022. She admitted to her deed after her child died and she had to register her child's death.
A Johannesburg woman and her boyfriend were not spared, but were given life sentences in April 2024 for killing her daughter after aiding in her child's sexual abuse and eventual murder. She was also given hefty sentences of 210years for abusing her children and 25 years for aiding and abetting rape.
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What did South Africans say?
Netizens commenting on TimesLIVE's Facebook slammed the courts for not sending the woman to prison.
Lucky Moses Kgosoma-Mnisi said:
"If it was the son who killed his mom, he was gonna be given life."
Siaruli Rofhiwa Erick said:
"Justice is not make sure these days. I was of the opinion that a suspended sentence is for offences committed without the intention to harm."
Lombard W Ramapuputla said:
"Now all the mothers who are abused and molested by their own drug addicted sons can now take the law into their own hands and confess to have been angry afterwards. The law has given mothers the easy way out."
Colleen Kessopersadh asked:
"How can a murderer get 8 years and a suspended sentence? What is happening in SA? Do judges not know how to do their jobs?"
Caiphus Thokozani said:
"Judges are the ones who fail police and South African citizens."
Parents sentenced for murdering toddler
In a related article, Briefly News reported that a couple from Alberton, Ekurhuleni, was sentenced to life imprisonment for abusing and murdering their two year-old child. The mother was sentenced for murder, rape and being an accessory to murder, and the father was sentenced for the same crimes.
The couple had a history of abusing their child. After she was returned to her parents custody in 2018, she experienced abuse until she died.
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Source: Briefly News
