Woman accused of murder not welcome back in Olievenhoutbosch

The Olievenhoutbosch woman accused of murdering two of her boyfriends and her son stands in court. Picture: James Mahlokwane

The Olievenhoutbosch woman accused of murdering two of her boyfriends and her son stands in court. Picture: James Mahlokwane

Published Aug 12, 2020

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Pretoria - The woman accused of murdering two of her boyfriends and her son and burying them in a shallow grave will not be welcome back in Olievenhoutbosch.

This was said yesterday by angry community members after the mother and her minor son, who allegedly worked with his mother in committing the crimes, appeared in the Pretoria Magistrate’s Court.

The 17-year-old, held by social workers and a legal guardian, was brought into court by a lawyer. The courtroom was evacuated before the boy appeared, due to his being a minor.

The teenager confessed to the crimes to traditional healer Brian Tshuma, community leaders and police officers, and then took them to a grave from which bones were removed by police forensic officers last week.

Community leader and organiser for the Olievenhoutbosch SA National Civic Organisation, Robert Khalushi, said they were also afraid for the boy’s safety because the mother could have him killed since he had information that could see her go to jail.

“We are disappointed that the mother has the audacity to even attempt to apply for bail and says that she will be accommodated in Olievenhoutbosch.

“We do not want anything to do with that woman; in fact, we want authorities to make sure she does not have access to the boy because he is the one who exposed the crime.

“We would, however, accept the boy should he be released because he is a minor, and we believe under the care of his family he can recover from this. It’s such a shame a mother did such horrible things and had her own child participate in such a crime.”

In the courtroom, the boy’s mother did not make contact with her son, who sat next to her just outside the dock. The court will hear the mother’s bail application on August18.

Her defence has, however, asked that the court order the State to hand over a copy of her statements to the police, as that information may be used to aid her bail application.

The bodies are suspected to have been buried starting in 2017.

They were discovered and exhumed after the boy - 13 years-old when the crimes were committed - reached out for psychological assistance.

Pretoria News