For giving her boyfriend’s brother a plate of food, Khosi Hadebe was accused of having an affair. It was a petty argument that ignited a full-blown inferno, leaving three children dead, their parents in a coma and the Zola community in mourning.
The children burnt to death in their small home in Zola, Soweto, on Wednesday morning after their father Vusi Masuku, apparently set their house alight.
Hadebe and Masuku were rushed to the Chris Hani Baragwanath Academic Hospital. They survived but they suffered serious burns and are comatose.
Neighbours suspected events might turn tragic because shortly before midnight on Tuesday, they heard screams coming from the house.
Neighbours confirmed that the children’s parents had been arguing, yelling so loudly that the details of their dispute could be heard by people in the area.
In an apparent drunken rage, her boyfriend of more than a decade, Masuku, attacked Hadebe because he believed she was having an affair.
A group of neighbours responded to the screams, knocking on his door and telling him to calm down. It took almost half an hour, but eventually the man appeared to settle down and the neighbours returned home.
Residents at the scene said the 31-year-old man left the house shortly afterwards and returned before 1am.
He reportedly bought a can of petrol, which he allegedly used to douse his children, Hadebe and himself. Masuku had allegedly locked the door with a large, steel padlock from the inside before lighting a match to start the fire.
All three boys, Mpumi, 3, Sanele, 8, and Xolani, 10, died in the fire.
Neighbours were woken by screams and an explosion when the fridge compressor ignited.
A group of concerned residents tried to break down the door to the burning home.
They eventually managed to get inside and drag the couple out. But it was too late to save the children, whose bodies were burnt beyond recognition. “I will never get that picture (of the children) out of my head,” said a woman who had seen the blaze.
Emergency services arrived on the scene at about 1.30am and rescued the critically injured parents.
Johannesburg Emergency Services spokesman Robert Mulaudzi said they were both rushed to hospital where they were stabilised.
The man’s sister and brother, who visited the badly damaged home on Wednesday morning, corroborated the neighbours’ accounts.
Close to tears, his sister told The Star that her brother had a history of abusing his partner of more than 10 years.
“He once burnt her with boiling water so badly she was in hospital for a month,” said the grieving sister, who had spent the morning comforting their distraught mother.
Hadebe had been too frightened to lay an assault charge against him then, and didn’t want her children to live without their father, the sister said.
“Now we’ve lost our nephews. We just need prayers to get us through this,” she said.
Jabulani police spokesman Kay Makhubela said if the man survived, he’d be charged with three counts of murder and one of attempted murder.
It all begins with a sad, empty feeling
University of Witwatersrand psychology lecturer Joseph Seabi, who specialises in suicide analysis, says a perpetrator of these kind of crimes is often suicidal himself. But prior to his own suicide, he may ask himself: “But if I kill myself, what about my kids? Who will look after them?”
It is this kind of thinking that can lead a suicidal man to familicide.
Professor Gertie Pretorius, director at the University of Johannesburg’s Centre for Psychological Services, agrees that SA men who are raised with a “breadwinner” mentality will often feel that they are saving their families from further suffering by killing them.
In her research on family murders, Pretorius noted that these individuals see no other way out, “a vortex of hopelessness” in their emotional or financial woes. The moment the provider of the family starts to fail at his/her job, a warped mind may start to rationalise their own death.
However, Seabi pointed out that a violent burst of emotion can also lead to this sort of crime, where the suicide is part of the regret the killer experiences after committing a heinous crime of passion.
While both psychologists said that it’s difficult to profile someone who would have the capacity to kill themselves or their families, there are some signs and personality types that may be more prone to these behaviours.
Pretorius indicated that a long history of depression or hopelessness is often seen in perpetrators of familicide. General mental illnesses such as schizophrenia or a history of violence may also increase the likelihood of these crimes.
But Seabi believes that those who have trouble expressing their own emotions can often erupt into violence. The inability to deal with the conflicts in their lives can frustrate them and eventually turn even the most reserved person into someone capable of violence.
Those that are at risk of suicide also exhibit these kind of behaviours, from feelings of hopelessness and despair to a loss of interest in previously enjoyed activities. Extroverts who suddenly become reserved or introverted is a sign that they may be contemplating suicide. But those suffering from depression or violent thoughts must realise that they have to ask for help.
“There is no reason to feel embarrassed by asking for help,” says Pretorius.
Other killer parents
* March 2005: Sipho “Shadow” Khumalo, 50, shot and killed his wife Sibongile, 45, her mother Ellen Madlabane, 63, and her foster brother, Kingdom Mabena, 7. After a stand-off with police, Khumalo turned his gun on himself.
* March 2005: Sipho “Shadow” Khumalo, 50, shot and killed his wife Sibongile, 45, her mother Ellen Madlabane, 63, and her foster brother, Kingdom Mabena, 7. After a stand-off with police, Khumalo turned his gun on himself.
The apparent reason for their strife, relatives said, was that Sibongile had for years claimed her husband was HIV-positive. She refused to have sex with him, instead sleeping in a separate bedroom.
* April 2009: Marissa Rudman and Nolan Schoeman were charged with the murder of their infant son, Wade, after being accused of abuse in 2009. In June 2012, both pleaded not guilty to charges of physically harming and murdering their two-month-old baby son and abusing another child.
Baby Wade died three days after being admitted to the Steve Biko Academic Hospital in April 2009, after receiving brain injuries, broken ribs and bruises all over his body. His parents have claimed that the injuries were received while the baby was treated for bronchopneumonia in April, inflicted by hospital staff. The trial continues.
* May 2011: Ben Engelbrecht, 52, was discovered in his car at his Linden home in the early hours trying to gas himself with a pool pipe connected to the exhaust. Engelbrecht’s son Kobus and wife Ina were found at the home strangled in their beds with scarves.
Police arrived at the premises after Engelbrecht contacted his brother, who then contacted the authorities. On the day of the incident, distraught family members told The Star Africa that the emotional and financial strain of looking after his disabled son may have been the reason why he snapped. Kobus had been badly injured in a rugby accident a few years earlier and was left a quadriplegic.
* January 2012: The man dubbed “The Modimolle Monster”, Johan Kotze, faces 17 charges, including rape, murder, conspiracy to rape, kidnapping and assault with intent to cause grievous bodily harm.
On January 3, he allegedly ordered his three workers at gunpoint to gang-rape Ina Bonnette and mutilate her body with objects including nails, pliers, a grinder, and a screwdriver.
He is further alleged to have shot dead her 19-year-old son, Conrad Bonnette, who was lured to the house, as he pleaded for his life. The case is still continuing in Modimolle, Limpopo, where he and his co-accused were refused bail.
* January 6 2012:
A 25-year-old man killed himself after shooting dead his estranged 24-year-old wife as she opened the door of her home in Zondi, Soweto. Their six-month-old baby was lying on the couch and was not harmed.
“We understand the couple were married but they had problems in their relationship,” explained spokesman Warrant Officer Kay Makhubela. “The woman had left him and went back (to her) home.
“But this morning, he went to her house. As she opened the door, he immediately shot her. He went outside to Morobe Street, which is a busy street, and shot himself.”
Makhubela said the baby’s maternal grandmother had taken the orphaned infant into her care.
* March 2012: A man allegedly shot and killed his wife and 42-year-old adoptive son in their home in Dorandia, Pretoria.
The 61-year-old man is thought to have been angry that his adoptive son wanted to search for his biological family, Beeld newspaper reported.
The man’s wife, 60, said the father and son had a heated row at the kitchen table. The family’s other son told police the man stormed off, returned with a gun and shot Innus in the head.
When Derick and his mother tried to flee, he shot her, too.
Both Innus and the wife died at the scene. Police later arrested the alleged shooter, who still had the gun in his hand.
WHERE TO GO FOR HELP
The SA Depression and Anxiety Group can be reached at toll-free 0800-567-567
The Star