Kimberley - The father of the five children who were brutally murdered by their mother, Vinolia Siwa, in Pampierstad last year has welcomed her conviction.
North West High Court Judge Ronald Hendricks on Tuesday found Siwa guilty of killing her five children, one of whom was disabled.
Siwa stabbed four of her children (disabled Sizwe, Lukanyo, Edward and Reatlegile) with a kitchen knife in their necks and drowned the youngest child (Naledi), who was two years old at the time.
On Tuesday, the father of the five children, Israel Lesimole, said that although justice had been done, it would not bring back his dead children.
Lesimole is the biological father of the three youngest children, but said in court that he considered himself the father of all five.
“Although justice has been served, it brings little comfort to me because the children are dead. It is tough for me to see her (Siwa) going through this, but the law is the law. It has to take its course and we must all accept it,” Lesimola said.
Although Lesimola testified in court on Tuesday that the five-month-old baby, who Siwa recently gave birth to, was his, he did not want to speak to the media about her.
“The child is mine. At the moment she is well and is being taken care of by Siwa’s sister in Pampierstad,” Lesimola told the court during his testimony in court.
He told the media that he would like to keep her out of the spotlight.
Lesimola, who on Tuesday sat and spoke to Siwa before proceedings started, said that he accepted her apology.
“Although her apology changes nothing because the damage has been done, I accept it. I can confirm that our relationship at this point is normal because we are conversing and there’s nothing wrong. What I would like to hear from her is why? I have tried to ask her about this (the murders), but she has never given me a proper answer,” Lesimola said.
Siwa flatly refused to be interviewed by the media after being found guilty by Judge Hendricks.
Her legal counsel, Advocate Nzame Skibi, said that Siwa would only speak to the media after she had been interviewed by social workers, who have to prepare a pre-sentence report.
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