A nurse working at a Potchefstroom hospital faces charges of murder after the death of a teen from Bothaville.
Yesterday, Boitumelo Mogale, 31, emerged from holding cells at the Bothaville Magistrate's Court with her head bowed. Her eyes never met those of residents of Kgotsong township, which is 5km away, who had arrived in court wearing T-shirts bearing the
face of the deceased, Fana Mothibedi, 14.
Appearing before magistrate Mpho Mosimane, Mogale indicated that she would apply for a state attorney. But she was told that she did not qualify. The case was postponed to August 13 to allow Mogale time to get an attorney.
Fana died last month after three people, one of them believed to have been Mogale, walked into his grandfather's house in Mpumalanga section of Kgotsong.
They allegedly told his grandfather, Tiro Mothibedi, that, after checking Fana's blood pressure, he had to be medicated as he was unwell. A few hours after taking the medication, the boy died on the way to hospital.
Postmortem results revealed that his death was as a result of poisoning.
Outside the courtroom yesterday, a small group of Kgotsong residents gathered waiting to get a glimpse of Mogale .
Among those gathered outside was Kemiso Digama, the brother of the deceased.
Also clad in a shirt bearing Mothibedi's face, a stony-faced Digama confirmed Mothibedi was his younger brother, and even more startling, that Mogale was his former lover.
They have a child together, he said.
Meanwhile, the Free State health department held a "know your community health worker" awareness programme at the Kgotsong stadium.
Departmental spokesman Tebogo Oepeng said their task was to inform residents how to identify on-duty health workers when they visited their homes.
"Our understanding is that when the young boy died, it was as a result of people visiting his home," Oepeng said.
selebim@sowetan.co.za
Nurse in court for 'poisoning teen'
A nurse working at a Potchefstroom hospital faces charges of murder after the death of a teen from Bothaville.
Yesterday, Boitumelo Mogale, 31, emerged from holding cells at the Bothaville Magistrate's Court with her head bowed. Her eyes never met those of residents of Kgotsong township, which is 5km away, who had arrived in court wearing T-shirts bearing the
face of the deceased, Fana Mothibedi, 14.
Appearing before magistrate Mpho Mosimane, Mogale indicated that she would apply for a state attorney. But she was told that she did not qualify. The case was postponed to August 13 to allow Mogale time to get an attorney.
Fana died last month after three people, one of them believed to have been Mogale, walked into his grandfather's house in Mpumalanga section of Kgotsong.
They allegedly told his grandfather, Tiro Mothibedi, that, after checking Fana's blood pressure, he had to be medicated as he was unwell. A few hours after taking the medication, the boy died on the way to hospital.
Postmortem results revealed that his death was as a result of poisoning.
Outside the courtroom yesterday, a small group of Kgotsong residents gathered waiting to get a glimpse of Mogale .
Among those gathered outside was Kemiso Digama, the brother of the deceased.
Also clad in a shirt bearing Mothibedi's face, a stony-faced Digama confirmed Mothibedi was his younger brother, and even more startling, that Mogale was his former lover.
They have a child together, he said.
Meanwhile, the Free State health department held a "know your community health worker" awareness programme at the Kgotsong stadium.
Departmental spokesman Tebogo Oepeng said their task was to inform residents how to identify on-duty health workers when they visited their homes.
"Our understanding is that when the young boy died, it was as a result of people visiting his home," Oepeng said.
selebim@sowetan.co.za
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