Baby Daniel's mom could have saved her son's life, says prosecutor

As the court heard the mitigating and aggravating factors ahead of the sentencing of Baby Daniel's mother and her boyfriend, the prosecutor on Wednesday said the child's mother was just as responsible for the toddler's brutal death as her boyfriend.

Addressing the South Gauteng High Court, Stevin Rubin said that Maryke Cloete* had the means to remove herself and her children from a toxic situation, but had refused help from her family and lied to social workers - telling them that everything was OK when they intervened and questioned her about injuries to her children.

"She had the means to get help. She was not acting under duress. A mother sat by while a man made her child eat faeces and she still chose to stay with him," said Rubin, painting a picture of how she had failed Baby Daniel as a mother.

Rubin also pointed out how she had failed to take the court into confidence regarding how the toddler had actually died, saying only that she wished she had done more to save him.

Baby Daniel died in June 2016. Paramedics found the child's body at home in Naturena, Johannesburg. He had burn wounds on 60% of his body after being submerged in boiling bath water. He also had head and chest injuries, bruising on his arms and a broken femur.

Rubin called on the court to not deviate from the prescribed minimum sentence, saying the three-year-old boy was defenceless and died at the hands of those who were expected to protect him.

"He died what can be described as a horrific death … What we witnessed was out of the ordinary - far beyond the realms of what we thought a human was capable of," he said.  

Both the lawyers of Cloete and her former lover, Tim Naidoo*, presented reasons why the court should show mercy.

The reasons presented by Naidoo's lawyer included that he needed to look after his other children.

Cloete, on the other hand, said she had a pending job offer and would be a contributing member of society should be allowed to serve her time outside the confines of prison.

Her lawyer, Mario Coetzee, asked for the court to consider the fact that she had already spent 107 days behind bars since her guilty conviction. "When she is sentenced or if given an inside sentence, that should be considered and ... deducted," he said.

Coetzee also called for the court to take into consideration that the young woman was herself a victim of abuse and had been exposed to violence all of her life. "As the children, she also suffered under the hands of the second accused – physically, sexually and emotionally," he said.

This statement was met with murmurs from Naidoo's family, who were seated in the first row of the court gallery.

Coetzee tried to paint a picture of a responsible woman who despite her wrongdoings, continued to support her children financially after she was granted bail.

"She knows her guilt. She knows that what she did was wrong. She mentions that she still gets nightmares and was acting under duress. She had no support structures," he said.

Speaking on his client's state of mind, Coetzee said: "She was abused to the point of complete ineffectiveness ... She has acknowledged her mistakes and she intends to fix them."

He said Baby Daniel was also failed by the system, claiming that he would still be alive if social workers had done their work properly.

Naidoo's lawyer, Mpho Nemaunzeni, highlighted that social workers had found that this was an isolated, once-off incident.

"The court may want to send a message, but the accused should not suffer an injustice ... There are substantial circumstances that should warrant that the court deviate from the prescribed sentence," said Nemaunzeni.

Sentencing is expected to be delivered soon.

* Not their real names. Their identities are not being published to protect the identities of their other children.