Murder suspect’s kids put in care

THE children of the woman who allegedly killed her newborn-baby, have been placed in special care.

Dalene-Ann Petersen, 32, charged with the murder of her 28-day-old baby appeared briefly in Mitchells Plain Magistrate’s Court yesterday.

Petersen will return to the dock on September 26 for a bail application.

It is alleged she choked the newborn baby to death and hid him under a mattress.

Social Development MEC Albert Fritz said department officials attended the court appearance.

“The children have been placed in alternative care of a relative and counselling assistance is being rendered to the children. We condemn this brutal murder and the alleged circumstances of this incident in the strongest terms possible. That the alleged murderer is allegedly the mother of the baby is most outrageous,” Fritz said.

The department has appealed to expectant mothers and fathers, and parents of newborn children, to approach social workers for assistance and family planning interventions. “Ensuring the safety and care of children requires a whole-of-society approach,” he said. Fritz added that they would be supporting police in the investigation and monitoring the case.

Joanie Fredericks of the Mitchells Plain Crisis Forum said they were “distraught by the senseless killing”.

To report abandoned, abused, neglected or missing children, contact the police or the Department of Social Development hotline on 0800 220 250.