Keeya Mbulawa: Alleged child-killer to remain behind bars
The case against a woman accused of kidnapping and killing four-year-old Keeya Mbulawa has been postponed to 19 April.
Nonhlelelwa Matsebula, who is said to be from eSwatini, made a brief first appearance in the Protea Magistrate’s Court on Friday.
She was arrested on Wednesday.
READ MORE: Soweto woman arrested for kidnapping, murder of toddler
In January, Mbulawa's mother made the grim discovery of her daughter stuffed in a luggage bag, allegedly by the accused, who was trying to leave in a metered taxi.
Mbulawa and other children are said to have been playing hide and seek with the suspect when she suddenly disappeared, sparking a frantic search.
In a video that went viral, the mother said when rushing her unconscious child to the hospital, they realised that her neck had been bound tightly with a cable tie.
The child died in hospital hours later.
The family’s spokesperson, Advocate Miller Moela, said while the family was pleased that Matsebela is behind bars, they are struggling to deal with what they believe was the ultimate betrayal by a neighbour they trusted.
“This child used to call the suspect aunty. So, she was a mother to his child. The mother will now face somebody who used to be called an aunty by their own child who is no longer there…
“They want to know why and how the child was killed by someone they knew. This is a person [they would leave the child with because they lived in the same homestead.”
The matter was postponed for further investigation, including verifying the accused’s immigration status.
"The postmortem is not yet ready, and they need to verify their status in South Africa and her correct identity because there's doubt as to whether the names she is using are her real names or not,” explained Moela.
Matsebela also requested the services of a legal aid lawyer.
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