THE Limpopo MEC for safety, security and liaison has accused the mothers of the three children who were found murdered at the weekend for neglecting their children.

Member of the executive council Florence Radzilani said the children would not have died had they been taken good care of by their mothers and not been neglected.

She said the children were admitted to the Mantadi Child and Youth Care Centre in the Mookgophong municipality in June after they were neglected by their mothers.

Hosea, Johanna and Bafana were pupils at the Dikubu Primary School.

They went missing last Wednesday after a community march was held to demand more teachers at the school. Their bodies were discovered in the bushes. The boys were believed to have been strangled while the girl was allegedly raped before being stoned to death.

Bafana, 9, was in grade 3 and his cousins Johanna, 12, and Hosea, 10, were in grades 4 and 3, respectively.

Their mothers had surrendered the children to the centre.

Radzilani also lambasted officials at the centre for failing to act immediately when it was realised that the children were missing.

"Authorities at the Mantadi Child and Youth Care Centre are also to blame for waiting until the following day to report the children missing," she said.

The MEC said even after being informed that the children were missing social workers "lost precious time" reporting their disappearance to the police.

"Who knows, maybe the children would have been found alive had the police been informed on time," she said.

Radzilani, speaking after the burial of the children, said there would have to be further investigations to determine what had happened and also what measures could be taken to prevent a recurrence of the atrocity.

Police spokesman Brigadier Hangwani Mulaudzi said no one had been arrested in connection with the murders. "But we are still investigating," he said.