Mom accused of murdering 4 children appears in court; bodies found by landlord

A MPUMALANGA mother arrested for allegedly murdering her four children in Klarinet in Emalahleni, Mpumalanga, appeared in the Witbank Magistrate’s Court yesterday in connection with the murders.

Zinhle Maditla, 24, appeared briefly before magistrate Darleen Venter where she requested a legal aid lawyer. She was remanded and the matter postponed to January 14 for a formal bail application.

Maditla was arrested on December 30 when she handed herself over to the Vosman police station. This was shortly after the decomposed bodies of her four children – two girls, aged 4 and 8, and two boys, aged 7 years and 11 months – were found in her rented room in Klarinet.

Her landlord, Matilda Mahlangu, said on December 31 that she and her other tenants broke open the room’s door and found the bodies after they smelt a bad stench in the yard and saw flies between the curtains and windows. Maditla was charged with four counts of murder.

Speaking to the reporters outside the court yesterday, provincial police spokesperson Brigadier Leonard Hlathi said Maditla was admitted to hospital on the evening of December 30 after police realised “she was weak”. He said investigations were continuing.

“She was holistically weak and we decided that she must be taken to hospital,” said Hlathi.

“She came to us and presented herself as the person responsible for the death of the children. That alone is a strong factor. The post-mortem results will tell us the cause of death of the children. Our investigations are continuing and will tighten up loose ends for us to present a watertight case before the court.”

Maditla’s aunt, Felicia Martin, said the children would be buried today in Klarinet. |