Johannesburg - “I strangled my mother, when I left she wasn’t breathing.” This is what a 14-year-old boy told his aunt after he knocked at her door.
The teenager, from Waterworks informal settlement south of Joburg, made the confession at about 10pm on Thursday. He is under arrest.
His aunt said the teen had been at her house in Zuurbekom on Thursday. He attends the same school as his cousins. He left at about 8.30pm and was back by 10pm.
“I asked him: ‘Why are you back? Did you fight with your mother again? Did she kick you out?’ He said yes. He started to cry. Then I noticed his arms were burnt.”
The woman, who cannot be named as her nephew is a minor and can also not be named, said he told her his mother had been looking for her pink hat and wanted to know from her son where it was.
“He told me his mother started beating him with a stick and he blocked the lashes. She then poured hot water from a kettle on him and tried to hit him with a brick. He said he then pushed her to the ground and strangled her.”
The woman said her home is nearly 10km from the teen’s house. She did not believe he had killed his mother.
“In the morning I went to their house. It was before 7am. I knocked but no one answered. I pushed the door open and saw her lying on the floor. I called the police.“
On Friday the teen was treated at a hospital for his burns.
His grandmother said his mother would get out of control when she was drunk and abused him.
Saturday Star