Ermelo- Friends of a mother who allegedly bludgeoned her children with a hammer before jumping in front of a speeding car said she was driven to her death by her cheating husband.
The woman’s body was found on the N11 highway in Ermelo , Mpumalanga, a few kilometres from her home on Wednesday.
Captain Carla Prinsloo said the woman had been run over by a car.
“We came to the conclusion that the children were hit on their heads with a hammer because it was found next to the bodies, covered in blood. The husband was taken in for questioning,” Prinsloo said.
Prinsloo said they were investigating a case of murder and culpable homicide.
The children’s bodies – a girl aged five and an eight-month-old boy – were discovered by the father when he allegedly returned home from his girlfriend’ s house on Wednesday morning.
The couple’s landlord, Betty Lukhele, claimed the woman’s husband was cheating.
“He had just returned home when he found the children dead. He leaves every evening. He never sleeps at home. I blame him.
“When a man cheats and the wife finds out, he must stop, but he did not care,” Lukhele said.
The couple’s friend, Violet Zunde, said the woman was stressed.
“She complained all the time. He was cheating with a woman who lives nearby. She depended on him but he did not give her money. She was suffering with those children.
“I once called him to come home when she was very sick but the girlfriend took the phone from him and insulted me instead,” she said.
Zunde said she was among the first people to arrive at the scene.
“I found the man sitting on the floor crying. He was covered in blood . He said his wife had killed the children with a hammer. Blood was dripping from a table where she had smashed the kids. He said he placed the children on the bed. I could not look at the children,” Zunde said.
Another friend, Sifelani Mahlevadza, also said the woman was very stressed.
“It is painful when your man cheats. He started cheating when she was pregnant with the younger child. She told us that he did not buy them food. She made money from doing people’s hair but it was not enough.
“He would leave her every night. She complained to us all the time,” Mahlevadza said.
The couple is originally from Zimbabwe .
source: sowetanlive
