The four children were overcome by hunger and died on a long walk to find their mother and sister, who had gone in search of food

THE Mmupele family of Verdwaal near Lichtenburg in North West feels nothing will give them closure to the experience of losing their four children who died of hunger and dehydration two weeks ago.

The four children were overcome by hunger and died on a long walk to find their mother and sister, who had gone in search of food.

The family buried two children, Sebengu Mmupele, 9, and Mmapule Mmupele, 7, yesterday.

That came only eight days after the burial of the other two children, Olebogeng, 6, and Oarabetswe,2.

Postmortem results showed hunger and dehydration had caused their deaths after they had walked a distance of more than 10km.

Hungry and thirsty, they apparently got lost on the way, and died after succumbing to hunger. Olebogeng was suffering from tuberculosis.

The children were reported missing on October 24.

They had gone to look for Elizabeth Mmupele, the 27-year-old mother of Olebogeng and Oarabetswe, and a sister of Sebengu and Mmapule.

Elizabeth had apparently left the home to pay her mother Martha Mmupele, 46, a visit on the farm Bethlehem, situated about 10km away, in a bid to find some food.

Elizabeth, who is five months pregnant, said she could not stand the hunger anymore and decided to leave the children behind to go look for food.

"I went to my mother's work to look for something to eat, I was hungry and my children and younger siblings were also hungry because we had not eaten the previous night," she said,

"We did not have any food in the house,"

She said when she returned in the afternoon she found the house empty. She asked the neighbours about the children's whereabouts, to no avail.

"I felt like I was going crazy, I made enquiries in the village the whole night, screaming like a mad person, calling their names with the hope that I will find them," she said.

Elizabeth lives with her mother Martha, younger sister Agnes, 12, younger brother, Moses 15, and her aunt, Baby, 39, in a three-roomed RDP house.

No one in the family has a permanent job, nor do they have identity documents, which means they cannot access social grants.

Their only means of survival is when Martha gets paid.

"Sometimes I get R70 after doing some small job if I am lucky. I can stay for more than a month without work sometimes, but we survive," she said.

"I lost my sister in April, followed by my mother in May and we buried my sister's daughter in June. Now we've just buried two of my children and two of my grandchildren.

" I can't take this anymore, this is too much," a sobbing Martha said.

Martha's sister, who lives with them, is also very sick.

Olebogeng and Oarabetswe's bodies were found lying only a few metres apart on October 25.

Police spokesman Brigadier Thulani Ngubane said police, with the assistance of the dog unit, had conducted a search for the other two siblings, but without any luck.

A farmer, Nico Meyer, was busy ploughing his land when he found the two decomposed bodies and alerted police.

The family was assisted financially by members of the community and Ditsobotla local municipality mayor Lesego Holeles.

Their mother is still to face charges of child negligence.