Rita Odafe
Tragic Incident in South Africa: Teen Charged with Brother’s Death
An 18-year-old male from South Africa is accused of poisoning his 3-year-old brother and attempting to conceal the body in a dustbin, allegedly to distress their parents.
The young child was laid to rest on February 7, 2025.
According to Lumka Mahanjana, spokesperson for the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA), the tragic event took place in Drieziek Extension 3, Orange Farm, Johannesburg on January 31, 2025.
The child’s mother was home with the accused and her two older sons, aged 16 and 22, when she realized her youngest son was missing. Initially thinking he was playing with a neighbor, she delayed raising the alarm. It wasn’t until around 1 PM, when he had not returned, that she began to search for him, Mahanjana explained.
Mahanjana continued, stating that around 4 PM, the 16-year-old brother of the accused went to a nearby field to tend to goats and discovered the accused putting the child’s body into a dustbin.
After confronting him, the brother brought the dustbin home and alerted their mother. Emergency services were called, but the child was pronounced dead at the scene, she noted.
The next day, the accused surrendered to the police and reportedly confessed to using rat poison to kill his brother.
The suspect has appeared in the Vereeniging Magistrates’ Court on murder charges, with the next hearing scheduled for February 13, 2025, for a formal bail request.
In a recent interview, the father recounted that when he questioned his son about the incident, the teenager stated he killed his brother to cause pain to their parents.
