A nine-year-old boy died after his mom allegedly set him alight when she caught him smoking.
The Delft-South boy, Aphelele Nomavayi, was with his older brother Mnikeli, 13, when the incident happened last month.
Aphelele was in Red Cross Children’s hospital for almost a month and then passed away last week.
The 36-year-old woman Noluthando Nomavayi, found the two boys with entjies and became angry.
Police spokesman Captain FC van Wyk says: “She took her two boys to the back of the yard and doused them with paraffin and set them alight.
“She is the owner of the tuck shop and she is selling paraffin in litre bottles. The 13-year-old managed to escape, but Aphelele sustained 90 percent burns to his body.
“Aphelele was taken to Red Cross Hospital and he passed away on July 18 at 9am.”
A neighbour who wishes to remain anonymous says: “I never thought Noluthando could be that evil.
“We always thought she was a nice person who loved her children.
“She tried to burn both of her children. What if Mnikeli also died? She’d be left with no kids.”
Noluthando is at Pollsmoor waiting for psychiatric evaluation at Valkenberg.
* This article was published on p9 of the Daily Voice