The Pretoria High Court has convicted a father from Soshanguve for the murder and attempted murder of his children, as well as for the rape of their mother.
According to National Prosecuting Authority spokesperson Lumka Mahanjana, the man poisoned his sons, instantly killing the younger one who was only two years old.
“The Pretoria High Court found a father [Mr X] from Soshanguve guilty of the murder of his two-year-old son and two counts of attempted murder for his eight and 11-year-old sons. He was also found guilty of rape of his partner, who is the mother of his children, and a further three counts of contravention of the protection order,” said Mahanjana.
According to Mahanjana, the father was in a relationship with the mother from 2004 until 2018. She said the mother had applied for a protection order against him in 2019 when he broke into her house, assaulted, and raped her.
“It was put on record that the family of Mr X pressured the mother to drop the charges of rape. On August 24 2019, he fetched the two-year-old son from his mother. He proceeded to fetch the [other] two sons aged eight and 11 at their paternal grandmother’s place, taking them to his place.
“On their way, he fed them viennas and russians which were laced with poison. When the 11-year-old refused to eat viennas, he assaulted him and forced him to eat.
“Upon arrival at his place, the children fell ill. He then called their mother and told her that he was going to kill the children. The mother arrived and found the lifeless body of the two-year-old on top of his bed. She called the police and took the two children to the hospital.”
She added that the man was apprehended on the same day at a railway station where he had gone to commit suicide. He has been in custody since the incident.
In court, the judge noted the discrepancy in the man’s testimony and ruled that the testimonies of his surviving sons were “honest and credible”, thereby proving the case beyond reasonable doubt.
The matter has been postponed to November for sentencing.
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