zinhle maditla

Twitter / Buliee_M

The case of Zinhle Maditla: Mother accused of poisoning her four children

The children deserved to live.

zinhle maditla

Twitter / Buliee_M

Zinhle Maditla stands accused of murdering her four children. The mother from Klarinet, in Mpumalanga, handed herself over to police a month ago, after her children, aged between 11-months-old and eight, were found dead.

According to Eyewitness News, Maditla was the one who, in December, contacted the police, asking them to go check on her four children at her home.

Why did Zinhle Maditla allegedly murder her children?

The last time anyone saw Maditla with her children was on 26 December 2018. Police responded to the call and made a gruesome discovery at Maditla’s home.

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Her four children were dead. Strangely, they were all wrapped in blankets and there were no obvious signs of blunt force trauma or entry wounds that would suggest the cause of death.

Police spokesperson Leonard Hlathi, when news of the murders broke, recalled how strange Maditla’s behaviour was when she handed herself over to the police.

“On her arrival at the police station on Sunday, police observed that she was weak and took her to a hospital, raising suspicions that she might have attempted to take her own life,” he stated.

The community was left in utter shock and disbelief over the gruesome murders. What would drive a mother to commit such a heinous crime?

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Maditla’s defence lines up insanity plea

On Monday, 14 January, Maditla appeared at a court in Mpumalanga for the first time since she was discharged from hospital.

Her defence hammered on the fact that it needed the state to run psychiatric evaluation tests on the mother on the basis of the nature of the crime she is accused of.

Her attorney suggested that no sane person, who for at least eight years, has breastfed and raised four children would just turn up one day and poison all of her children to death.

The court concurred with the request and Maditla has been remanded in custody until the completion of her psychiatric evaluation.

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“She brought an application to be sent for psychiatric evaluation, thereafter the court granted the order for her to be taken for the mental observation. The matter was then postponed,” NPA spokesperson, Monica Nyuswa, stated.

The case is slated to resume in February where the court is expected to rule on the results of the pysch examination.