Durban - eThekwini Municipality mayor, Zandile Gumede, on Monday headed a delegation that visited a home in Thornwood, near Pinetown, where three people were found dead at the weekend.
Two women were found with stab wounds to their bodies, while the third person, a man, was found hanged inside the house.
A two-year-old girl was also found inside the house. A family friend notified police of the gruesome find after the toddler’s mother, her friend, did not attend church on Sunday.
Gumede visited the area on Monday and said they would be checking up on the child, who is still believed to be in hospital.
Gumede said the funerals would be paid for by the municipality.
“As a city, we are going to be taking care of the funerals. There is no way that we can just turn a blind eye and not do anything,” she said.
Gumede said that the city would assist with the placement of the child. She said the toddler did have other relatives who did not live in the home.
It is unclear how long the bodies had been in the house. By the time police arrived, the bodies were already in a state of decomposition. A knife, believed to have been the murder weapon, was also found near the bodies.