SAPS Arrests Young Free State Couple After Toddler and Infant Burn to Death

• The South African Police Service arrested a young couple in Reitz, Free State, after they left their children in their shack while they went out drinking
• The shack they lived in caught fire, and their seven-month-old and 18-month-old children were burned beyond recognition
• South Africans were fuming and called for them to face the harshest punishment, accusing them of being negligent parents

Tebogo Mokwena, a Briefly News current affairs journalist in Johannesburg, South Africa, covered criminal activities, cash-in-transit heists, kidnappings, taxi violence, police investigations, police shootouts and court cases at Daily Sun for over three years.

REITZ, FREE STATE — The South African Police Service (SAPS) arrested a couple aged 23 and 25 at the Petsana Informal Settlement in Reitz, Free State, after their children were burned to death on 3 May 2025.

Reitz informal settlement kids burned to death

According to the South African Police Service, the young couple left their 18-month-old and seven-month-old toddlers alone in their shack while they went out to a drinking establishment in the dead of night. Shortly afterwards, a community member told them that their shack was on fire.

They rushed back home and they found a scene of police officers and shocked community members. They were arrested and charged with child neglect. They appeared before the Reitz Magistrates Court on 5 May.

Similar shack fire stories

Two toddlers perished in September 2024 when a shack caught fire in Vosloorus, Ekurhuleni. The community tried in vain to save the two-year-old and 10-week-old toddlers. The mother reportedly left the premises to attend to a different matter while cooking on a paraffin stove.

A woman and her two children died after a candle-lit fire burned their shack in Bloemfontein in the Free State in March 2025. It's reported that the woman's elder son had gone to the shops and locked the shack from the inside when it caught fire.

South Africans furious

Netizens commenting on Facebook were angry.

Raolane Moshoma May Chomie said:

"Innocent babies. May their souls rest in peace, and may their parents rot in jail. The law must be hard upon them."

Rica S'ga said:

"The mom must get the harsher sentence. It is always said that women are good custodians of children, but here the woman followed her man to the drinking spot while leaving two toddlers behind."

Ntokozo Khumalo said:

"They chose alcohol over innocent children. This is so sad. They must rot in jail."

Roy Fleetwood said:

"It's a disgrace to have children and then neglect them. One would expect them to show love or care."

Lynette Clark-Galant said:

"All for the SASSA child grant every month."

Chloe Abigail Gill said:

"So terrible. Those poor children! How can you leave them alone at that age and go out drinking?"

Disabled woman died in a fire

In a related article, Briefly News reported that a disabled woman died in a fire in August 2024 in Ekurhuleni. Her sister was badly injured during the blaze.

A family spokesperson said the siblings saw the fire start but could not move. Their screams were not loud enough to alert community members in time to save one of them.

Source: Briefly News