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A Durban woman and her roommate have been jailed for life for the 2017 murder of her former lover's 10-year-old son to punish him for ending their romantic relationship.
The KwaZulu-Natal High Court in Durban also sentenced the women to life behind bars for killing the child's 10-year-old friend.
According to National Prosecuting Authority spokesperson Natasha Kara, Liziwe Ngwayishe and Amahle Maliwa were roommates.
Maliwa was involved in a romantic relationship with the father of one of the boys.
"At some point in the relationship, Maliwa fought with her boyfriend, resulting in him ending their relationship. The women then colluded and decided that the only way to make him feel the pain that Maliwa felt about the breakup was to kill his child."
She said the duo were aware of a park that the child played in.
"On the day of the offence, the two women lured the child, under the guise that his father wanted to see him, to a bushy area near a canal in the Bluff where he was forced to drink a poisonous substance of potassium permanganate. Once he passed out, they threw his body into the canal."
READ: Mom's ex-boyfriend handed life sentence for killing her daughter
Kara said the women then realised that the boy’s friend would recognise them and devised a plan to kill him too.
"They called this boy, pretending that his friend wanted to see him. They took him to the Clairwood area where they forced him to drink the poison as well. The child was hit on the head with a glass bottle, strangled with his school shirt and left on the ground."
She said both women were arrested the following day.
When the case went to court, Maliwa pleaded guilty and she was sentenced to the two life terms last month.
Senior State advocate Nadira Moosa used Maliwa’s guilty plea as evidence against Ngwayishe, who was sentenced on Wednesday.
"Advocate Moosa also led medical evidence on the corrosive effect of potassium permanganate in causing the immediate deaths of the children," said Kara.
Acting Director of Public Prosecutions in Kwa-Zulu Natal, advocate Elaine Zungu, welcomed the sentence and convictions.
"We also congratulate the prosecution and other roleplayers who assisted in the finalisation of this matter. It is hoped that the sentence imposed will have a deterrent effect on would-be offenders."
