WHAT a sad story!
We have reported on many cruel incidents before. But this one is arguably the worst we have come across.
As we report in the cover story, a young mother pleaded guilty in the North West High Court to killing five of her children.
The 33-year-old Vinolia Kelebogile Siwa confessed to murdering her children, aged between 2 and 13.
She is not mentally unstable. In fact, she had been certified mentally fit to stand trial, although the shocking details that emerged from her confession could easily have come from someone who committed the crimes after having lost her own sense of being human.
She stabbed and drowned them after suffering severe depression, triggered by extreme poverty, abuse and her inability to look after the children. Her actions cannot in any way be condoned or justified.
That she suffered from all these things did not mean she was entitled to take the lives of the children. She had a legal and parental obligation to look after them. But that did not make them her property that she could decide to destroy as and when she wanted to.
Our Constitution guarantees everyone, including children - poor or rich, hungry or well-fed - the right to life. Children are human in their own right,independent of the parents.
Yet, we cannot rubbish as inconsequential the circumstances that Siwa claims had led her to commit the crimes.
Many families are struggling to make ends meet. They are irretrievably trapped in poverty. To its credit, the state has put together a portfolio of social grants to ease the poverty pain.
These grants are by no means sufficient. They are meant to alleviate the worst form of poverty. They include child support grants which should have made life relatively better for Siwa's children.
The children did not have to die for Siwa to make a statement about how poor she is.
Not all needy South Africans have access to the grants. In many cases poverty breeds ignorance, so that many potential legitimate beneficiaries do not know how to get help.
But beyond the issue of poverty, Siwa's story demonstrates the need for the government to begin to consider ways to help families to help themselves. The extended family in African communities, and the spirit of neighbourliness which for years has served as a cushion for the needy, appear to be cracking.
For many, the only cushion is to commit crime - including the killing of those seen as a liability, like Siwa's children.
Ways must be found to mend broken (extended) families.
A sad South African story
WHAT a sad story!
We have reported on many cruel incidents before. But this one is arguably the worst we have come across.
As we report in the cover story, a young mother pleaded guilty in the North West High Court to killing five of her children.
The 33-year-old Vinolia Kelebogile Siwa confessed to murdering her children, aged between 2 and 13.
She is not mentally unstable. In fact, she had been certified mentally fit to stand trial, although the shocking details that emerged from her confession could easily have come from someone who committed the crimes after having lost her own sense of being human.
She stabbed and drowned them after suffering severe depression, triggered by extreme poverty, abuse and her inability to look after the children. Her actions cannot in any way be condoned or justified.
That she suffered from all these things did not mean she was entitled to take the lives of the children. She had a legal and parental obligation to look after them. But that did not make them her property that she could decide to destroy as and when she wanted to.
Our Constitution guarantees everyone, including children - poor or rich, hungry or well-fed - the right to life. Children are human in their own right,independent of the parents.
Yet, we cannot rubbish as inconsequential the circumstances that Siwa claims had led her to commit the crimes.
Many families are struggling to make ends meet. They are irretrievably trapped in poverty. To its credit, the state has put together a portfolio of social grants to ease the poverty pain.
These grants are by no means sufficient. They are meant to alleviate the worst form of poverty. They include child support grants which should have made life relatively better for Siwa's children.
The children did not have to die for Siwa to make a statement about how poor she is.
Not all needy South Africans have access to the grants. In many cases poverty breeds ignorance, so that many potential legitimate beneficiaries do not know how to get help.
But beyond the issue of poverty, Siwa's story demonstrates the need for the government to begin to consider ways to help families to help themselves. The extended family in African communities, and the spirit of neighbourliness which for years has served as a cushion for the needy, appear to be cracking.
For many, the only cushion is to commit crime - including the killing of those seen as a liability, like Siwa's children.
Ways must be found to mend broken (extended) families.
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