Suspected killer mom in court

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

Zulpha Jacobs wore a pink and grey hooded top and blue headscarf. The State was opposing bail for, among other reasons, her own safety and the serious nature of the crime. The investigation had also not been completed yet.

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 would also face charges of abandonment.