Poverty blamed after mother murdered children before taking own life

A desperate mother of three allegedly murdered her children before talking her own life in Butterworth, Eastern Cape, on Sunday.

Police said while the motive for the killings is not known, it is suspected that it was driven by poverty.

This raises uncomfortable concerns about SA’s high cost of living.

The country’s unemployment rate currently sits at 32.9% amid rising food prices, which have left most households struggling to make ends meet.

ALSO READ: Child hunger: ‘We can’t do nothing’

‘Almost no food in the house’

Gift of the Givers, Eastern Cape co-ordinator, Corene Conradie told The Citizen the Butterworth incident is not isolated.

As a community-based worker, Conradie said she’s encountered similar cases before – with hunger being the common thread.

“This should be treated as a disaster, because it is one,” Conradie said.

Conradie said adding to the heartbreaking story was discovering that “there was almost no food in the house”.

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Butterworth is no stranger to hunger. Conradie mentioned a previous incident where nine children died of hunger about a year ago, following “late” admission to hospital.

Conradie said while many adults are often able to brace the hunger and face the day on empty stomachs, children are not as resilient.

She also said there’s been an increase in malnutrition levels in rural Eastern Cape in recent years, with the impact of Covid-19 remaining prevalent since most people lost their jobs during lockdown, and some breadwinners dying from Covid.

Income vs inflation

The average amount it costs to feed a child a basic nutritious diet was R899.54 in July.

With the country’s unemployment rate at an all time high, many households are forced into a tight corner, relying on the government’s child support grant of R500 per child, which falls short 44% short of the average cost of a child’s basic nutritious diet.

General workers are also faced with the effects of a relatively low national minimum wage of R25.42 hourly – earning just R203.36 after an eight-hour day of labour, which adds up to R4 470.56 after 21-working days.

Meanwhile rising food, fuel and electricity costs continue to erode into household budgets of average South Africans forcing them to turn towards debt as they struggle to get through the month.

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Loan sharks

When asked about the prevalence of loan sharks in rural communities, Conradie said it’s an issue – especially among the elderly.

Conradie explained that some loan sharks make it impossible for debtors to access their grants, by taking possession of bank cards and ID documents.

National Credit Regulator’s (NCR) Education and Communication Officer, Winnie Rabathata told The Citizen that taking possession of a consumer’s bank cards and other documents is prohibited in terms of the National Credit Act.

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Criminal offence

She said such conduct constitutes an offence.

“The NCR acts upon information received from the public or other stakeholders to identify these individuals,” Rabathata said.

“…And where individuals are found to retain consumer instruments, a criminal case is opened immediately… and the individuals are arrested and instruments seized,” she added.

Rabathata urged consumers experiencing harassment from loan sharks to open criminal cases with the police, and to notify the NCR as soon as possible.

Cautioning consumers against loan sharks, Rabathata said lenders who aren’t registered as credit providers may not extend credit or impose charges on consumers.

She also said the National Credit Act prescribes the maximum interest rate which may be charged on various credit arrangements.

As an example, Rabathata said interest of more than 5% on initial loans and 3% on subsequent loans within the same calendar year – may not be charged on loans below R8 000 or with 1 to 6 month repayment periods.

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