Mother, three children found dead

MYSTERY surrounds the killing of a young Mpumalanga mother and her three children, who were found dead in their home yesterday morning.

The body of the woman, believed to be in her twenties, and that of her three children, two boys and a girl, were discovered in a bedroom in their Witbank home by a relative and a domestic worker. According to authorities, the four had been dead for some time.

ER24 spokesperson Russel Meiring said paramedics were called to the tragic scene by local authorities around 8am.

“When they arrived at approximately 8.15am, paramedics were led into the bedroom, where they found the bodies,” Meiring said.

“Upon assessment, paramedics found the mother lying on the floor, while a five-yearold boy, a nine-year-old girl and seven-month-old boy were found lying on their beds.”

Meiring said paramedics were unable to do anything for the deceased and they were all declared dead. The four appeared to have been dead for at least six hours.

Mpumalanga police confirmed the deaths, with Sergeant Gerald Sedibe also explaining that the four were found by a relative and maid.

Sedibe said: “The maid came to work yesterday morning but found the house locked.

“She then contacted a relative, and luckily, the relative had a spare key and was then able to gain access to the house.”

Sedibe said the relative then made the gruesome discovery and alerted the police.

While police were unable to provide details surrounding the deaths last night, they did say the causes of death would become clear once postmortems had been conducted.

Meiring said the bodies showed no visible signs of injuries.

Mpumalanga Community Safety, Security and Liaison MEC Pat Ngomane has spoken out on the incident, saying he was shocked to learn of the tragedy.

“It is indeed shocking to learn of the deaths of the mother and her children, and we’re awaiting a full report from the police investigating the incident,” he said.

The MEC added that while there was no clarity on what happened, he was relieved that an inquest had been opened.