A KwaZulu-Natal woman was dragged into a forest stabbed to death by a jilted lover - as her children looked on in terror.

Nomvelo Dlamini‚ of Hlobane in the northern reaches of the province‚ was waiting for a bus with her sister and children at the weekend when she was confronted by a man identified by police as her "boyfriend".

Police spokesperson Nkosie Gwala said that the man asked to speak to her.

“The suspect‚ without any word of warning‚ grabbed and dragged Dlamini into a nearby gumtree forest and started assaulting her‚” she said.

“Her sister ran to a nearby homestead to summon help but when she returned she found her sister lying on the ground. The children informed her that she has been stabbed several times and died among the trees‚” Gwala added.

She said that Dlamini had been stabbed 12 times before the man fled.

Gwala said that the man‚ who is known to police‚ is on the run.

“He will be arrested soon‚” she said.