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A surprise confession could possibly be made on Friday in the Brakpan family murder case that left three children and their mother dead, Netwerk24 reported.
News24 reported that a mother from Sallies village in Brakpan was suspected to have shot and killed her three children before setting their house alight and turning the gun on herself.
Police spokesperson Captain Pearl van Staad told News24 that the incident happened just after 17:00 on Wednesday.
The children were aged 19, 17 and 10, respectively.
The house had also been set alight, according to Van Staad.
"The owner of the house managed to extinguish the fire and tried to check for his family. He found his wife with their three children in the living room with the bullet wounds of a 9mm pistol, which was lying on the floor next to his wife," police said in a separate statement.
READ: Brakpan mom allegedly shoots 3 children, sets house on fire before killing herself
The weapon used belongs to the 40-year-old woman's husband. He claimed to have been at work at the time of the incident, Van Staad said on Thursday.
"It is alleged that the mother shot the children and then shot herself," Van Staad said.
"The husband's firearm was lying next to her. He said he was away working."
According to Netwerk24, the family has a history of domestic violence. The Afrikaans online subscription news service quoted a community policing forum source claiming that the children appeared to have been drugged before being shot.
The source reportedly said the woman had asked her husband for money for clothes for the children. He reportedly gave her the keys to the safe, which is how she managed to get hold of the pistol.
When police accompanied the husband into the house to fetch his clothes, his belongings were reportedly found packed into cardboard boxes.
Van Staad told News24 police are awaiting results into what caused the fire at the house, though it is believed that the woman set fire to the living room where the shootings took place.
An inquest docket has been opened.
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