A Soshanguve father has been found guilty and sentenced to life imprisonment for the murder of his two-year-old son as well as attempted murder of his other two children (aged 8 and 11).

The Pretoria High Court also found the man guilty of the rape of the mother of his children, housebreaking and contravening a protection order.

“He was in a relationship with the children’s mother from 2004 until 2018,” said NPA spokesperson Lumka Mahanjana.

“In January 2019, the mother applied for a protection order against him. He, however, contravened the interim protection order by assaulting her, breaking into her house, and raping her.”

In the same year, on August 24, the man went to fetch his two-year-old from his mother and then went to the grandmother’s place to fetch his other two sons.

He took the children to his house. On the way, he fed them sausages laced with poison.

“When the 11-year-old refused to eat at the Viennas, he assaulted him and forced him to eat,” says Mahanjana.

The children fell ill shortly after they arrived at their father’s home. 

“He then called their mother and told her that he was going to kill the children. The mother arrived and found the lifeless body of the two-year-old on top of his bed. She called the police and took the other two children to the hospital.”

The man was arrested on the same day at a railway station where he tried to kill himself. He had been in custody since.

“In court, he pleaded not guilty. He told the court that the Viennas and Russians laced with poison were meant for rats and not his children. However, the court found his testimony not to be true and the two children’s testimonies honest and credible.”

During sentencing, the judge told the father he had no regard for the law as he committed the criminal offences while there was a protection order against him.

As a result, the father will serve two life terms and a further 33 years for his crimes.