News24.com | Soweto 'muthi' murders: Relative of one victim, her partner in court on premeditated murder charges

Two are in court for alleged muthi-related killings.

• A relative of one of the two boys who were killed in Soweto, allegedly for muthi, appeared in court with her partner on Friday.
• Nqobile Ndlovu, 50, and her partner, Mzwakhe Zulu, 39, appeared in the Protea Magistrate's Court.
• They have been charged with premeditated murder.

A relative of one of the two boys who were murdered in Soweto this week, allegedly for muthi purposes, appeared in court with her partner on Friday on several charges related to the killings.

Nqobile Ndlovu, 50, and her partner, Mzwakhe Zulu, 39, appeared in the Protea Magistrate's Court. They face charges of premeditated murder, kidnapping, perjury and defeating the ends of justice for the murders of Nqobizitha Zulu, 5 and his friend, Tshiamo Ramanye, 6.

The State alleges that the couple acted with a common purpose, that the bodies of the children were mutilated and that the act of murder was premeditated.

It was revealed in court that Ndlovu was convicted of assault at the same court when she was 19. Zulu has no previous convictions.

They will be back in court next Friday.

Nqobizitha and Tshiamo went missing on 19 April. Their bodies, missing some parts, were found the following day. The couple was arrested on Wednesday.

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Speaking to News24 on Wednesday after hearing about the arrest of a relative, Nqobizitha's grandfather, Anderson Mdingi, said: "This woman was there when the boys went missing. She spent almost a week with us. She cried with us. She assisted us. Yet, she knew the truth.

"She pretended to be a caring parent. Inside her mind, she was fooling us. She knew that her hands had brought us the pain we were battling to control. Her hands have taken away two innocent young souls. Nqobizitha's murder is hard to accept."

According to Mdingi, Nqobizitha's mother had long suspected that Ndlovu knew what happened to the boys.