- A woman who allegedly sold her child, then killed a woman and stole her child, appeared in court last week.
- Nelisiwe Thwala, together with her boyfriend, allegedly killed the woman and dumped her body in a municipal bin.
- While her boyfriend was arrested and handed two life sentences, Thwala was only arrested last year.
A Gauteng woman who allegedly sold her newborn child to "unknown people", then killed a woman and stole her infant son, is set to go on trial after three years on the run.
The murder and subsequent kidnapping happened in 2019, but Nelisiwe Thwala fled when her boyfriend, and alleged co-perpetrator, Xolani Mkhize was arrested.
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Thwala, who was finally arrested last year, appeared in the Gauteng High Court in Johannesburg last Monday and her case was postponed.
Allegations are that 29-year-old Thwala fell pregnant and, after giving birth, sold her child.
Once her family found out, they kicked her out and told her she could only return if she came with the child she had sold.
According to the indictment, she and Mkhize lived in an outside room in Zola North, Soweto.
Thobane Khanyile, who is Mkhize's uncle, also lived in the neighbourhood with his wife, Nonhlakanipho Lukhozi and their three-month-old son.
On 10 June 2019, Lukhozi was killed at her home, allegedly by both Thwala and Mkhize. The two have been accused of taking the child after putting Lukhozi's body in a wheelie bin and dumping her body in a nearby field.
"The cause of death of the deceased was determined to be multiple blunt stab wounds to the neck and chest, ligature strangulation and blunt force injuries," the indictment reads.
"Thereafter, the accused (Thwala) and her co-perpetrator (Mkhize) proceeded to the accused’s parental home at Tshepisong with the deceased’s minor child ... and introduced the deceased’s child as the accused’s child [who] had been previously sold by the accused to unknown persons," reads the indictment.
Thwala has been charged with murder, kidnapping, defeating the ends of justice, and human trafficking.
Mkhize was convicted and received two life sentences.