A MUM from Eastern Cape allegedly decided she would rather die than starve to death with her three kids.
Bongeka Buso (38) from Tholeni Village in Butterworth reportedly killed herself along with her three because she allegedly saw death as the only way out of poverty.
The gruesome discovery of the bodies of Bongeka and her children Anathi (14), Orabile (9), and Oratile (5) was discovered by a mashonisa, who allegedly came to collect a debt.
According to Petros Majola, director of the Khula Community Development Project, the gruesome discovery was made on Sunday, 6 August.
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"She was found hanging from a rope inside her rondavel, already dead. The kids were also found dead on the bed. The 14-year-old was found with stab wounds on her neck, and the knife was still stuck in her neck.
"The other two kids were found lying on the bed with bloated stomachs. It is suspected that they had been fed poison before being hanged as there was rat poison on the table," he said.
Her uncle Mkhululi Buso said: "She was unemployed and lived on grants as source of income. Since the grant was not enough to support her and her kids, she often borrowed money to make ends meet.
"The postmortem revealed that the children died after being hanged with the ropes, then they were taken down and placed on the bed."
Social Development MEC spokeswoman Busisiwe Jemsana-Mantashe said: "The department is developing more developmental programmes as social grants alone are not enough.
"We are also identifying hot spots of poverty so that we can work with Department of Health to include children and mothers affected by poverty in our programme."
Police spokeswoman Colonel Priscilla Naidu said: "Police are investigating three cases of murder and an inquest docket. The motive for the deaths is not known, but it is suspected that it could be related to poverty."
