A 28-year-old mother accused of strangling her two children to death, including a two-month-old baby, said she doesn’t know how many children she has.

Nelisiwe Thusini made her first court appearance in the uMlazi Magistrate’s Court on Thursday.

Thusini, from Ngonyameni in uMlazi, allegedly strangled two-month-old Nqobizitha Thusini and two-year-old Nozibusiso Thusini.

According to the police, the bodies of the two children were found in the bushes of Sinkontshe in Ngonyameni on Monday morning. 

“Police responded to reports of the bodies of two children, which were found, and upon arrival at the scene, police found two bodies of children with head bruises and were declared dead at the scene. The motive of the killings is unknown at this stage,” said KZN provincial police spokesperson Colonel Netshiunda. 

Isolezwe reported that the children were found wrapped in one blanket, and inside it was a note with their father’s and grandmother’s cellphone numbers.

Paternal grandmother, Nelisiwe Mkhize, said Thusini arrived with the children at Ngonyameni on Thursday from their father’s house in iNanda. 

She said that when she spoke to Thusini on the phone, she could tell that she was still weak from giving birth. 

“I asked her to come over for a short while,” Mkhize added. 

She said every morning she would wake up and go check on her and the kids in her son’s room. 

“On Sunday, I woke up to go and check on her and the kids, but she was not in the room with the kids. Their clothes were still there. I tried calling her, but she didn’t answer,” she explained. 

Additionally, Mkhize said in the afternoon, Thusini called her son and told him that she wants to say goodbye because he does not want to sell the house in iNanda, so they could build somewhere else. 

She said Thusini had been speaking about the selling of the house, but her son did not pay attention to her as he did not think it was a good idea.

Mkhize said that when the community members called her to the scene, her grandchildren had bruises and were wrapped in one blanket. 

“One child had blood coming out of her nose.” 

She claimed that while they were at the scene, startled children who Thusini had sent approached them and explained that she had sent them to see if the children’s bodies had been found. She said that as they looked up, they saw her. 

Mkhize further said whenever Thusini was in a bad mood, she would say she wanted to kill herself together with her children.

Making her first appearance, Thusini kept on hiding her face. She told the court that she would like to get a lawyer from Legal Aid. 

As the Legal Aid lawyer, Shamika Sahdeo, was consulting with her while on the dock, she asked her how many children she had. 

“I don’t know,” she said, hiding her face with her hands. At one stage, she asked the court interpreter in English if she was asking her a question. 

State prosecutor Khulekani Mzotho told the court that they are opposing Thusini’s bail. 

“We are of the view that she is a flight risk. The accused would be referred to a district surgeon to be assessed,” he said. 

Mzotho asked for the matter to be postponed to July 24 for Thusini’s bail application.  

nomonde.zondi@inl.co.za

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