A 25-YEAR-OLD mother yesterday turned herself in to the police - a day after strangling her two young children.
A 25-YEAR-OLD mother yesterday turned herself in to the police - a day after strangling her two young children.
Saziso Mtshali strangled Londiswa, 9, and Samkelo, 3, after a fierce quarrel with their father the day before.
The children were last seen alive by their father on Tuesday morning at Umlazi's T-section - commonly known as Seventeen Men's Hostel.
Mtshali, from the rural Qolwane area in Hlabisa, northern KwaZulu-Natal, arrived in Durban on Monday afternoon - with her two children in tow - to visit Sanele Zungu, the father of the children, also from Hlabisa.
Told to leave
According to the police, Zungu was upset by the unannounced visit and an argument ensued between the two.
Zungu allegedly beat her up and ordered her to leave his house - with the children - in the middle of the night.
Because she had nowhere to go Mtshali and the kids spent the night in the open.
Umlazi police spokesperson Superintendent Buhle Ngidi told Sowetan: "An argument broke out between the two since Zungu was reported to have been unpleasantly surprised by the visit.
"Zungu apparently assaulted her and the nine-year-old child. He then chased them away.
"They spent the night in the bush and in the morning, Londiswa, according to the mother, pleaded with her to kill them because she had had enough of the beatings from the father.
"She also said their granny was too poor and sick [to look after them], so the best thing would be for them to die."
Ngidi said Mtshali first strangled Londiwe and then killed Samkelo.
After killing the children the mother spent the night in the bush with them before turning herself in to the police.
At the scene of the slayings yesterday - a busy pathway near a busy road - police found the dead children. They had marks around their necks. Their shoes lay in the grass.
Mtshali told the police that she had been estranged from her husband since last year.
"She was in a state of trauma and had some lacerations around her neck, apparently caused by Zungu. We arrested her. We will provide counselling because she is in a bad state," Ngidi said.
Shocked
When Sowetan contacted the father he was devastated. He said he was "shocked" and never thought his "ex-wife" would do such a thing.
"We broke up last year after I found out that she was cheating on me. So her visit was unnecessary."
He said when she arrived he "politely" asked her to leave the next day. "Even back at home, her family members phoned me to tell me she was missing and I told them she was in my house - but I gave them my word she would be returning on Tuesday."
Police are investigating double murder charges against Mtshali and two assault cases against Zungu.
rejected, so She slays her kids
A 25-YEAR-OLD mother yesterday turned herself in to the police - a day after strangling her two young children.
A 25-YEAR-OLD mother yesterday turned herself in to the police - a day after strangling her two young children.
Saziso Mtshali strangled Londiswa, 9, and Samkelo, 3, after a fierce quarrel with their father the day before.
The children were last seen alive by their father on Tuesday morning at Umlazi's T-section - commonly known as Seventeen Men's Hostel.
Mtshali, from the rural Qolwane area in Hlabisa, northern KwaZulu-Natal, arrived in Durban on Monday afternoon - with her two children in tow - to visit Sanele Zungu, the father of the children, also from Hlabisa.
Told to leave
According to the police, Zungu was upset by the unannounced visit and an argument ensued between the two.
Zungu allegedly beat her up and ordered her to leave his house - with the children - in the middle of the night.
Because she had nowhere to go Mtshali and the kids spent the night in the open.
Umlazi police spokesperson Superintendent Buhle Ngidi told Sowetan: "An argument broke out between the two since Zungu was reported to have been unpleasantly surprised by the visit.
"Zungu apparently assaulted her and the nine-year-old child. He then chased them away.
"They spent the night in the bush and in the morning, Londiswa, according to the mother, pleaded with her to kill them because she had had enough of the beatings from the father.
"She also said their granny was too poor and sick [to look after them], so the best thing would be for them to die."
Ngidi said Mtshali first strangled Londiwe and then killed Samkelo.
After killing the children the mother spent the night in the bush with them before turning herself in to the police.
At the scene of the slayings yesterday - a busy pathway near a busy road - police found the dead children. They had marks around their necks. Their shoes lay in the grass.
Mtshali told the police that she had been estranged from her husband since last year.
"She was in a state of trauma and had some lacerations around her neck, apparently caused by Zungu. We arrested her. We will provide counselling because she is in a bad state," Ngidi said.
Shocked
When Sowetan contacted the father he was devastated. He said he was "shocked" and never thought his "ex-wife" would do such a thing.
"We broke up last year after I found out that she was cheating on me. So her visit was unnecessary."
He said when she arrived he "politely" asked her to leave the next day. "Even back at home, her family members phoned me to tell me she was missing and I told them she was in my house - but I gave them my word she would be returning on Tuesday."
Police are investigating double murder charges against Mtshali and two assault cases against Zungu.