Cape Town – A 35-year-old Grabouw mother is in custody following her arrest on charges of murder on Friday morning.
The woman appeared in court this morning on charges of arson and murder.
“The arrest relates to an incident where Grabouw police were called out to the Waterworks informal settlement in the early hours of Friday. Upon arrival they discovered a shack that was locked and already on fire. During the inspection of the scene the charred bodies of two young boys, aged 3 and 5, were discovered,” police spokesperson Brigadier Novela Potelwa said.
“As part of the police investigation into the incident, Grabouw police took witness statements and the suspect, who is the mother of the children, and was subsequently arrested.”
Overberg chief fire officer, Reinhard Geldenhuys confirmed that the fire department received a call from Waterworks informal settlement at 11.55pm.
“We were able to put the fire out. We discovered two bodies of children.”
The incident comes after an Eastern Cape mother, Nomboleko Simayile, who is accused of bludgeoning her four children to death with a sledgehammer in Ngcobo on November 9, appeared in court.
Her children, Lizalise, 11, Inganathi ,9, Othalive, 5 and Elihle, 2, are set to be buried today.
These two alleged murders come ahead of World Children’s Day on Sunday.