No bail for child killing accused

A DRIFTSANDS couple charged with the murder of their 3-year-old daughter abandoned bail at the Blue Downs Magistrate’s Court earlier this week.

The child’s mother, Khumbula Sobekwa, 30, and Lwando Sobekwa, 26, who was the child’s stepfather, were arrested in Tsomo in the Eastern Cape last month and made a brief appearance before the court for a formal bail application for the murder of Lumka Makhasi in June last year.

It is alleged Lwando Sobekwa had beaten her with a plank and hosed her down while naked because she had soiled herself the day before.

A relative who spoke to Weekend Argus on condition of anonymity said the family had always had their doubts about the union.

“She ( Khumbula) has always been a sweet child, we don’t know what got into her when she met and married him. She changed and she was somewhat distant from the family, but none of us expected that there could be more to Lumka’s death than what they had initially told the family,” he said.

Initially, the couple told family members the child had had fits and died, but when the post-mortem was released the child’s death was described as unnatural.

Sobekwa and her husband then allegedly fled their home in Driftsands near Khayelitsha and sought refuge in Kayamandi, Stellenbosch, before departing for the Eastern Cape.

Lumka had been living with her maternal grandmother in Beaufort West since she was born and had come to Cape Town with her for the weekend when she died.

The case was postponed to November 29 for further investigation and gathering of witnesses. The pair will remain in custody.