Trial date set for couple who buried child in garden

A POTSDAM couple will go on trial in June in connection with the death of their five-year-old daughter Kungawo Mabusela, who was found buried in the garden.

They face two counts, one of murder and the other of concealment of birth and death registration, Act 51 of 1992, Section 31, sub-section 1A. The two appeared before Mdantsane Regional Court magistrate Twanet Olivier yesterday.

Olivier told the couple their case was ready for trial after consultations between the defence and state. She set the date for June 30.

In court, the couple remained silent throughout.

The quiet Potsdam community was in a state of shock last July after the badly decomposed body of the girl was dug up from a shallow grave by a police forensic team.

Her body was found neatly covered with a duvet in the front garden of the child’s 76-year-old step-grandmother, Nolizana Melfin.

It is the state’s case that 32-yearold Siphelo Melfin assaulted the child after months of being ridiculed by neighbours for supporting a child who was not his.

The state further argues that when the child fell unconscious, the mother, 28-year-old Nosikhumbuzo Mabusela, offered the boyfriend a duvet to cover the body.

Police were tipped off about the grave a month after the incident and immediately rushed to the scene.

Siphelo pointed out the grave and was immediately arrested with the mother of the child.

Mabusela also buried two of her other daughters in the same garden, although no foul play was suspected in their deaths.

The couple have been in custody since July 12 last year, having earlier been denied bail. They are being represented by Legal Aid. —