By Melisa Msweli | 2025-03-14

The biological mother of the two minors who were allegedly abused by the 37-year-old woman of Siphumelele in Nhlangano claims not to have known the whereabouts of her children.

This is after they were taken by her brother on November 30 last year.
*Zanele said she used to go out a lot and she returned to find that her brother took her children.
When she enquired where they were, she said her brother told her they were in custody of a church member and were safe.
Zanele claimed that she would call or even confront her brother requesting to see her children, but her brother would not allow her.

“I used to go out a lot, but I have never starved my children,” she said.
According to Zanele, she was unemployed but she always made a plan for her children.
She further blamed her brother for what her children went through and the death of the firstborn.
She said she only learned of their whereabouts when she was called by the police who told her to report to the Nhlangano Police Station and learned of the child’s demise.
She said she did not even get much information as she was told to take care of her child who was admitted to hospital.

Zanele has reasons to believe that had her children been left with her, they would still be alive. According to her narration, had she known that her children were with the now-arrested woman, she would have fetched them.
She alleged that the arrested woman abused a minor she was taking care of while they both lived at Ezulwini and she would not want her children to be subjected to the same.
When asked about the allegations that she would leave the children unattended for days as she had a drinking problem, she refuted such saying; “Kona bengiphuma ema-out but I used to make sure they had eaten.”

Zanele said her brother deceived her and denied her access to her children for four months. She said she learned that the now-arrested woman relocated to Nhlangano but since she was told that the children were with a church member, she did not follow up on the suspect.
She could not explain why the children were not placed at home with their grandparents who are both alive and live at Mvutjini.
Zanele wept during the interview. She took a deep breath and said: “I blame my brother for all this.”
As of yesterday, Zanele said she had been receiving calls from people who knew her stating that they used to see her brother with the now-arrested woman near the overhead bridge strolling around the end of the month.

When asked about the condition of the admitted child, she said she was recovering and talking. “He keeps on asking me where his brother is and I don’t know what to tell him,” she said.

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