A woman was charged with child negligence on Friday after two of her children were found dead on the side of the road near Lichtenburg, North West police said.
The 27-year-old mother reported her four children missing to police on Monday, Brigadier Thulane Ngubane said.
Two of them were found dead on Thursday. Police were still searching for the other two.
Ngubane said the woman left her four children, aged two, six, seven and nine, at her house in Verdwaal to visit her mother in Bethlehem. When she returned, the children were gone.
Two-year-old Onkarabile and six-year-old Nkune were believed to have died from hunger and dehydration. Police suspected the children were trying to get to their grandmother's house.
The search for the remaining children was difficult because their mother could not provide pictures of them, and none of them went to school.
Sebengu, nine, was wearing a green track-suit and Mmapule, seven, a pink track-suit when they went missing.
The mother, who is pregnant, would appear in court soon. - Sapa