Two boys die in shack fire after mother allegedly locks them inside

A 35-year-old mother was arrested on Friday after she allegedly locked her two young sons in a shack that was on fire.

The incident occurred in the Waterworks informal settlement, in Grabouw, on Friday morning.

Shack locked

Western Cape police spokesperson Brigadier Novela Potelwa said police officers arrived at the scene and found the shack locked and on fire.

“During the inspection of the scene the charred bodies of two young boys, aged three and five, were discovered,” said Potelwa.

The mother was arrested after police took witness statements from her and witnesses.

Potelwa said she is expected appear in the Grabouw Magistrate’s Court on Friday.

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Mother accused of murdering children with sledgehammer

This case comes after a mother in Ngcobo, Eastern Cape, was arrested for allegedly bludgeoning her four children to death with a sledgehammer.

Nomboleko Simayile appeared in the Ngcobo Magistrate’s Court on Thursday.

The case against the 32-year-old woman was postponed until 29 November, due to her being ill.

“The court postponed the matter in her absentia as she was transferred to hospital after she fell ill in the holding cells,” said National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) regional spokesperson Luxolo Tyali.

It is alleged Simayile told her father that she had killed her two boys and two girls; aged 11, 9, 5 and 2.

Additional reporting by Faizel Patel

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