A woman from Klarinet in Witbank, Mpumalanga, who is accused of murdering her four children, made a brief appearance in the Witbank Regional Magistrate's Court on Monday.

The case against Zinhle Maditla was postponed to January 14 for a formal bail application.

The 24-year-old stands accused of killing her children aged between 11 months and eight years in December. 

Brigadier Leonard Hlathi said Maditla had called relatives on December 30, telling them to go check her house.

"They reportedly went there and were met by a gruesome scene where the dead bodies of her four children were wrapped in blankets inside the house," Hlathi said.

It was not immediately clear how the children had been killed.

Maditla and her children, two girls and two boys, were last seen on December 26 2018, when all seemed well.

A seemingly weak Maditla handed herself over to police after the bodies were found and she was hospitalised under police guard.

Maditla's first court appearance was scheduled for last week but she was only discharged from hospital on Friday. 

Source: TMG Digital