Sentencing set for mother found guilty of child murder

A sentencing date has now been set for the mother convicted of beating her five-year-old son to death with a mop, as the emotional and closely watched child murder case moves into its final phase in the Western Cape High Court.

Noxolo Pearl Ngqono returned to the Wynberg Regional Court, sitting as the Western Cape High Court, where sentencing proceedings were set down for Thursday, 7 May, after Acting Judge Amanda van Leeve previously found her guilty of murder and child abuse-related charges linked to the death of her young son.

Ngqono remains in custody after her bail was revoked following the guilty verdict.

She now faces a prescribed minimum sentence under South Africa’s Criminal Law Amendment Act, with murder cases involving aggravating circumstances and child victims often attracting life imprisonment unless the court finds substantial and compelling circumstances to deviate from the minimum sentence.

The case has drawn widespread attention after harrowing evidence emerged during trial proceedings detailing the abuse the child allegedly endured in the years leading up to his death.

In delivering judgment, Van Leeve found that the State had proved its case beyond reasonable doubt and concluded that Ngqono fatally assaulted her son using what was identified in court as a mop.

The judge relied heavily on testimony from the child’s teachers, who had previously noticed bruising to his body, face and lips and raised concerns about his wellbeing.

The court also accepted evidence relating to an earlier 2019 incident in which the child had allegedly disclosed abuse to daycare staff and identified his mother as the person responsible for his injuries.

Further evidence came from police statements and testimony by Ngqono’s husband, who initially told officers that his wife contacted him on the day of the child’s death and informed him that “something had happened”.

According to the statement accepted by the court, the husband said Ngqono admitted to striking the child after he had defecated on himself, an issue that had reportedly also led to earlier assaults.

Van Leeve noted that the child had previously been removed from Ngqono’s care in 2019 due to signs of abuse, a fact she said was never successfully disputed during the trial.

The judge also accepted evidence that Ngqono discouraged her husband from seeking medical help for the child after the assault because she was afraid.

The husband testified that he later locked Ngqono inside the house with the children before persuading her to accompany him to a police station.

Although the husband later contradicted aspects of his earlier version during testimony, Van Leeve found his original statement to police to be credible, noting his visible reluctance to implicate his wife in court.

She took into account that the couple remain married and share two children together.

Following the guilty verdict, the State successfully applied to have Ngqono’s bail revoked.

Prosecutors argued that her circumstances had materially changed because she was now a convicted offender facing serious charges carrying minimum prescribed sentences, including the possibility of life imprisonment.

The defence opposed the application, arguing that Ngqono had attended court throughout the trial and was unlikely to abscond before sentencing.

However, Van Leeve ruled in favour of the State, saying the accused’s circumstances had “changed drastically” following conviction and noting that she now faced the likelihood of direct imprisonment.

Ngqono was subsequently taken into custody where she remains pending sentencing proceedings.

Weekend Argus