'My children aren't dead‚ they're just sleeping' - Witbank dad

The father of the children whose bodies were found in their home in Witbank earlier this week refuses to believe they are dead.

Speaking to TimesLIVE on Friday‚ Sergeant David Ratau spoke of the anguish written on Mandla Mhlanga’s face when he stepped into the house to view the corpses of his three children.

“He said‚ ‘No man‚ my children are not dead‚ they are sleeping’‚” said Ratau.

“He walked towards them and said‚ ‘Daddy is here. You are just sleeping‚ right?’”

He knelt beside their bodies and cried.

“He just kept saying‚ ‘You aren’t dead. You are just sleeping’‚” said Ratau.

Quanisha (10)‚ Quirino (5) and seven-month-old Qwain and their mother Pearl (31)‚ a nurse at the Emalahleni Private Hospital‚ were found dead inside the house on Monday morning.

Mandla’s brother‚ Philemon‚ explained that the two youngest children were Mandla’s biological children.

The Mhlanga family had had named the children Mandlakayise and Mandla‚ after their father.

On Monday‚ the police were called to the house after the domestic worker failed to get a response from inside the house when she reported for duty.

They opened the door using a spare key from Pearl’s sister‚ Vinolia.

“The children looked they had been tucked in for bed. They really just looked like they were sleeping‚” said Ratau.

“Pearl was also lying in the room on the floor‚ face-up‚” he said.

Ratau had helped carry the children and their mother down the stairs before they were loaded into the mortuary van.

Pearl’s mother‚ Violet Malang‚ was distraught.

“She kissed her daughter and her grandchildren. She told them that granny is there and that they should rest in peace as they are now leaving the house and heading for the mortuary‚” Ratau said.

Although he has seen many crime scenes in his time‚ the image of Pearl and her children was one that would stay on his mind forever‚ Ratau said.

It still remains unclear how the family had died. Ratau said the police were waiting for the post-mortem report.

Philemon Mhlanga said the family had suspected it was a murder-suicide.

Pearl had apparently sent Mandla a threatening SMS‚ saying that he “would be sorry”‚ just hours before she and her children died.

It is believed that the couple was in the process of getting a divorce.

Asked how Mandla was coping‚ his brother said he was trying to come to terms with what had happened.

“He couldn’t sleep on Monday but on Wednesday and Thursday he got about an hour of sleep‚” said Philemon.

Pearl’s family was busy with funeral preparations and could not immediately speak to TimesLIVE. The funeral is on Saturday.