Man who allegedly killed baby daughter during ritual abandons bail bid

A man accused of killing his two-month-old daughter, Nonkanyiso Mahlangu, while allegedly performing a ritual in KwaMhlanga, Mpumalanga, has abandoned his bail application.

On Friday, Irvin Mahlangu, 27, abandoned his bid in the KwaMhlanga Magistrate’s Court, where he appeared before magistrate Andre du Preez.

His legal aid lawyer, who was only identified as Ms Baloyi, told the court her client does not want to apply for bail for now. She did not give any reasons.

The courtroom was packed to capacity while dozens of people sang and danced outside. Du Preez postponed the case to March 10 for further investigations.

Mahlangu was arrested on January 28 in KwaMhlanga shortly after he allegedly strangled and stabbed Nonkanyiso to death, according to police spokesperson Brigadier Leonard Hlathi.

He said Mahlangu allegedly killed her after he had a heated argument with his girlfriend and mother of the child, Pearl Mtshweni, 22, over some alleged rituals he was performing which involved Nonkanyiso.

“Mahlangu was furious and he allegedly threatened to kill the mother of the child,” added Hlathi. “She broke the window, screamed for help and neighbours called the police. The child was certified dead at the scene.”

Mtshweni, 22, was too distraught to speak to the media outside the court on Friday.

Her mother, Mary Mtshweni who was speaking on her behalf, said the incident happened in the early hours of January 28. She added Mahlangu had asked Pearl to come to his house the day before so she could drive him to work.

“When Pearl arrived at his house with Nonkanyiso, he told her to sleep there as he was no longer going to work,” said Mary.

She added her daughter had woken up in the middle of the night to find Mahlangu sitting on a chair holding the child. There was smoke inside the room, several R200 and R100 notes were placed under a pot on the floor and a few lit candles were in front of Mahlangu.

According to Mary, Pearl tried to grab Nonkanyiso from him, but the couple had wrestled over her.

“Mahlangu strangled Nonkanyiso with his hands and stabbed her in the neck with a broken bottle. I think my granddaughter was killed for muthi purposes,” she claimed.

Mary described Mahlangu as a good person who had not shown any signs of being problematic prior to the incident.

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