No bail for Cape killer mom

A woman suspected of killing her two-year-old son was denied bail in the Mitchells Plain Magistrate's Court on Tuesday.

Zulfa Jacobs, 30, who wore a pink and grey hooded top and blue headscarf, slouched over the accused box as a large police contingent kept watch in the court room.

The State said it would oppose bail for, among other reasons, her own safety and the serious nature of the crime. The investigation had also not been completed yet.

The court heard she had been for a pregnancy test, but according to a medical report in the State's possession, she was not pregnant.

She would remain in custody at Pollsmoor prison's medical wing until her next court appearance on January 9.

Earlier a crowd sang and held placards outside the court.

"No bail for child murderers," one placard read. Another woman in the crowd held up a copy of a local newspaper with the headline "Ma is glo 'n pro" (Mother believed to be a pro), in reference to reports that police were investigating whether she murdered more of her children.

Police spokesman Warrant Officer November Filander said earlier this week that Jacobs had confessed to killing her two-year-old son Tariq. His body was found in a shallow grave in the dunes behind the Imperial Primary School in Beacon Valley on Saturday around 2pm. He was last seen at the old bus terminus in Mitchells Plain on Thursday around 10am.

An autopsy was reportedly being conducted with the cause of death still unknown. Jacobs faces charges of murder and abandonment.