A 27-year-old Limpopo mother has been arrested following the deaths of her two young sons, whom police say are suspected to have been poisoned in separate incidents.
SAPS spokesperson Colonel Malesela Ledwaba said Tshilwavhusiku police have opened a murder case and launched a full investigation into the circumstances surrounding the deaths of the 6-year-old and 8-year-old siblings from Madabani Village.
Police said they were first called to Tshilwavhusiku Health Centre at about 11.10 am after a report of a patient suspected to have been poisoned.
“On arrival, they were pointed out the lifeless body of a 6-year-old boy lying on a bed,” Ledwaba said.
Preliminary information indicates that the child’s father, who does not reside with him, transported him to the clinic at about 9.20am after the boy complained of stomach pain, diarrhoea and vomiting earlier that morning.
In a separate incident later the same day, police were alerted at about 12.30pm to a missing 8-year-old boy who had reportedly been at school. A search was conducted, and the child was later found dead at his home in Madabani Village.
“He was lying on a bed wearing a blue tracksuit top and long tracksuit trousers and members of the Emergency Medical Services declared him dead at the scene,” Ledwaba said.
Investigators later established that the two deceased children were siblings, and both are suspected to have been poisoned.
“Preliminary investigations revealed the two deceased are siblings from Madabani village and both are suspected to have been poisoned.”
The probe into the deaths led to the arrest of a 27-year-old woman, believed to be the mother of the children, on Wednesday, June 3, 2026.
“A forensic pathology postmortem examination will be conducted to determine the exact cause of death. The motive for the incident is unknown at this stage,” Ledwaba said.
The suspect is expected to appear in the Tshilwavhusiku Magistrate’s Court soon on two counts of murder, while investigations continue.
IOL News
Wendy Dondolo
iol.co.za
