East Rand mother tells court how she welcomed her children's killers into her home

A grieving mother said on Wednesday she was battling to accept that she opened the door of her home to her children's killers.

"I am very sad that they killed my children. I opened the door and left them with my children on a daily basis. They were supposed to protect and not kill the innocent and I am still left with no reasons," said Thembi Letsoalo outside the Palm Ridge Magistrate’s Court.

"I'll be happy to see them get punished."

Letsoalo's three children and her six-month-old grandchild were bludgeoned, allegedly by her nephews in Katlehong, on the East Rand, in December. The two murder accused allegedly stabbed the children all over their bodies before putting three of them in a bathtub filled with boiling water.

One of Letsoalo's children, however, survived the stabbing and managed to fight their two attackers off before calling the neighbours for help.

Asked how she felt when seeing the two accused in the dock, Letsoalo said she could not believe that those were the very same hands that had allegedly taken the lives of her children and grandchild.

The Letsoalo family told News24 they have had no answers to why the accused allegedly killed their cousins.

The mother of one of the accused cried as she stood alongside another relative, listening to Letsoalo address the media.

Wiping her eyes with the blue blouse she was wearing, she held on to a relative and sobbed uncontrollably.

Letsoalo said the accused had a close bond with their cousins and they had since learned that during the attack, they were not under the influence of any substance.

Some of the family described the two suspects as good children. One of them was in college, while the other was still in high school. 

Meanwhile divisions had formed in the family. Letsoalo said the mother of the 17-year-old accused, had denied that her child had any part in the crime.

The minor's mother had stood alongside the dock on Wednesday during her child's appearance.

Wearing a green and white scarf, she appeared emotional with her hand placed on her chest as she followed the court proceedings.

The case against her son and his cousin, a 21-year-old man, was postponed to March 4 for the State to receive DNA test results.

The tests were conducted on the bloodied clothing that the two were reportedly wearing on the day of the crime, as well as the knife used in the attack.  

Prosecutor Litseo Litsili told the court that the DNA samples had been handed over for forensic analysis in January.

Meanwhile, the accused remained in police custody while the minor is at a child correctional centre in Soshanguve.

Asked whether she would forgive her children and grandchild's alleged killers, Letsoalo said: "Maybe if we got reasons as to why they did what they did."

Source: News24