“I found a lot of pills stashed in a tin hidden inside the bucket. I immediately recognised them as ipilisi ze ntaki (aluminium phosphide).
“I remember wondering why mom would have them. So I took them, hid them under my T-shirt and threw them away.
“Unfortunately, I mistakenly dropped one of the pills.”
These were the words of an 11-year-old girl, who survived after her mother forced her and three siblings to drink beer laced with the highly toxic pills last week, before strangling them.
The woman later took poison which also killed her.
The girl said: “She told us to drink the beer and that whoever did not drink, she would strangle to death.
“Inganathi was the first to drink and then I took a sip.
“She [my mother] strangled me and I pretended to be dead and she let go of my neck.
“After a while, I woke up to find my siblings lying face down and tried to wake them up.
“Two were already dead but one was still breathing heavily. I waited and then later ran home.”
The Dispatch reported last week on the deaths of 35-year-old Ntombizanele Mtsizela and her three children, Iyapha, 14, Inganathi, eight, and four-year-old Phila.
Mtsizela’s relatives and neighbours in Jabavu village in rural Port St Johns were left reeling in shock.
A sombre mood engulfed the village on Wednesday as Mtsizela and her three children were laid to rest during a moving funeral attended by hundreds of neighbours, schoolchildren and government officials.
The little girl, who is in grade 3 at a local school and whose identity is being protected, broke down in tears as the four caskets were carried into the tent.
However, speaking to the Dispatch in the presence of St Elizabeth Hospital social worker Nomantombazana Damba after the funeral, she put on a brave face.
She told how her mother took them to a forest in a neighbouring village where she forced them to drink the poisoned alcohol.
“She told us we would go to church in Mkhumbini [ Monday last week].
“While walking, we left the main road and she took us to the forest instead,” she said.
The child said she did not even know where she was at the time.
She said that afterwards, “I ran and sometimes would stop to catch my breath. I ran up a hill and down a river until I saw the village.
“I ran into one of the homesteads in our village and told them what had happened.”
The young girl, wearing a white dress, pink shoes and pink leggings and a black jacket with her hair nicely done, was seen hugging and laughing with some of her schoolmates after the funeral.
She told the Dispatch she wanted to become a nurse when she finished her schooling.
Damba said the little girl was staying at the hospital and it was her first time back at her village.
But she praised her for being mentally tough.
“She is a hero and she will grow up to be a very strong woman,” she said.
During the funeral, she urged residents to speak out about their situations.
“Please speak out about your pain. Let us not bottle things inside.
“We [social workers] are here to listen. Trust us. Do not let things get to a point where you act out your pain.”
Meanwhile, neighbours and family described Mtsizela as a quiet person who liked to keep to herself.
Eastern Cape child rights activist Petros Majola said he had spoken to education MEC Fundile Gade about the possibility of the young girl being enrolled at a boarding school to help her deal with her tragic loss.
Port St Johns mayor Nomvuzo Mlombile-Cingo also praised the young girl for her bravery.
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