The Gauteng Division of the High Court, sitting at Palm Ridge, has sentenced 44-year-old Nonkululeko Mbatha to two life terms in prison following her conviction for the premeditated murder of her two minor children.
The court heard how Mbatha deliberately poisoned her nine-year-old and seven-month-old children at their family home in Zuurbekom,Westonaria on 5 February 2025.
The infant tragically died at the scene, while the older sibling succumbed to the poison in the hospital nearly a week later on 11 February 2025.
Mbatha also consumed the contaminated food in an apparent suicide attempt but ultimately survived.
A meticulous investigation led by Sergeant Mokgalagadi of the Westonaria SAPS unmasked the calculated steps Mbatha took leading up to the tragedy. The detective revealed that Mbatha purchased several packets of poison alongside food from a local takeaway establishment before mixing the lethal substance and feeding it to her children.
In a deeply disturbing twist, evidence showed that she took photographs and recorded videos of both children while they were in agonizing distress, sharing the digital media with family members and friends.
She also penned a suicide note addressed directly to the father of one of her children.
During the aggravation of sentence proceedings, Senior State Advocate Rolene Barnard fiercely argued for the harshest possible penalties.
Advocate Barnard submitted that Mbatha had profoundly violated the foundational trust placed in her as a parent, executing the children after making deliberate and cold preparations. The prosecution successfully maintained that recording the minors’ final moments served as a severe aggravating factor, and emphasized that Mbatha’s failed suicide attempt should neither mitigate her sentence nor diminish her absolute criminal liability.
In delivering the heavy sanction, Judge Mfenyana concurred that Mbatha’s series of preparatory steps afforded her multiple opportunities to change her mind, yet she chose to proceed.
The judge remarked that the young victims were entirely vulnerable and trusted their mother to protect them.
Furthermore, the court condemned the digital recordings of their final moments, stating it displayed a callous disregard for the children’s dignity and inflicted severe psychological trauma on the surviving family.
National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) Gauteng spokesperson, Magaboke Mohlatlole, welcomed the double life sentence, stating it reflects the gravest seriousness of violent crimes perpetrated against children and reinforces the state’s unyielding commitment to holding offenders fully accountable.
