Chilling stories of mothers taking the lives of their children have made headlines across various publications. In the most recent incident, a mother stands accused of killing her 11-year-old son, Jayden-Lee Meek, in May.
It is alleged that the grade 6 pupil died of a blunt force head injury sustained in the Fleurhof flat in which he lived with his mother Tiffany Meek. He had been dropped off by scholar transport on the afternoon of May 13 and was found dead the next morning on the stairwell outside their flat.
In April, the Pretoria High Court sentenced a 40-year-old mother from Dunnottar in Nigel to eight years’ imprisonment, wholly suspended for five years, after her conviction for the murder of her 16-year-old son and the attempted murder of her seven-year-old daughter. She had fed them food laced with poison, shortly after she had fallen victim to a financial scam and was unable to pay her children’s school fees. She had also recently discovered that she had contracted a disease.
In May, the Durban High Court sentenced a 35-year-old woman to 20 years' imprisonment after she pleaded guilty to assault with intent to do grievous bodily harm and the murder of her three-year-old daughter in 2022.
The woman admitted to killing her child, saying she became angry when both children cried and the deceased soiled herself, leading her to strangle the child while cleaning her.
“Mother kills her child.” According to Celeste Louw, general manager of operations at the Tears Foundation, this is the kind of headline that makes one want to stop breathing.
“The shock cuts deep,” she said.
Louw notes that it is a struggle to comprehend because it challenges everything we believe about motherhood.
“Mothers are supposed to protect, nurture and love unconditionally. So when the unthinkable happens, we ask: 'Why? Could this have been prevented'.”
She said while filicide — the killing of a child by a parent or caregiver — is rare, its impact is devastating.
“Families are shattered, and communities are left grieving,” said Louw.
She argued that behind every case was a complex story, and most of the time, the signs were there long before the tragedy.
According to Louw, many mothers who commit filicide are not monsters, but are women in deep crisis — overwhelmed, isolated and silently fighting untreated mental health conditions such as postpartum depression or psychosis.
“Some are drowning under severe anxiety or long-standing depression. Add layers like poverty, abuse or abandonment, and the weight becomes unbearable,” she said.
Louw said sometimes the motive was even darker.
The emotional burden and stress associated with this kind of pregnancy can foster negative feelings towards the child, potentially escalating to extreme actions. Postpartum depression can also play a role
— Lehlogonolo Poopedi, social work lecturer at the University of Pretoria
“Experts call it spousal revenge filicide, when a parent kills a child to hurt their partner. It’s a chilling reminder of how relationship violence can spiral into unimaginable harm,” she said.
Lehlogonolo Poopedi, a social work lecturer from the faculty of humanities at the University of Pretoria, believes that a myriad of conditions may contribute, including unwanted pregnancies often resulting from sexual assault or unplanned circumstances.
“These can lead to resentment towards the child. Such resentment may arise from the traumatic or stressful nature of the pregnancy, possibly worsened by societal, personal or cultural factors that restrict the mother's ability to seek an abortion within the legally allowed time frame.
“The emotional burden and stress associated with this kind of pregnancy can foster negative feelings towards the child, potentially escalating to extreme actions. Postpartum depression can also play a role, and in severe, untreated cases, it can escalate to postpartum psychosis, characterised by delusions, hallucinations or extreme mood swings,” Poopedi said.
She said the combination of these symptoms with factors such as lack of support, pre-existing mental health issues, overwhelming stress and feelings of isolation can detach a mother from reality.
In rare and tragic cases, this detachment can lead to the killing of a child, often driven by distorted perceptions that the child would be better off dead.
“In a country like South Africa, economic hardships can also significantly heighten the stress and mental health challenges faced by mothers.
“The inability to adequately provide for children can cause feelings of failure as a mother, worsening stress, and potentially lead to tragic outcomes. This feeling of failure is often linked to societal expectations of providing a 'better life' or a life considered 'worthy' for children,” she said.
Additionally, Poopedi said a sense of loss and grief can occur when a child does not meet the parent's envisioned expectations.
“Every parent has ideals about their child's future, and discrepancies between these expectations and the child's reality can lead to grief, especially if the child is born with disabilities.
“When combined with other factors such as economic stress, lack of support or underlying mental health issues, this sense of loss can contribute to the phenomenon of mothers killing their children,” she said.
Poopedi said filicide can be either premeditated or impulsive.
However, she noted that many cases of mothers killing their children are linked to impulsive acts often connected to underlying mental health issues, especially in the context of postpartum depression that can progress to postpartum psychosis.
When combined with other stressors, Poopedi said the risk of severe outcomes increases, as symptoms such as delusions or hallucinations impair judgment and reality testing, potentially leading to impulsive and tragic actions.
Poopedi said the impact of poverty can be seen when a parent struggles significantly and is unable to provide for their children's needs or give them the life they hoped for. This can cause severe mental distress, feelings of failure as a parent and potentially tragic outcomes.
“Regarding isolation, mothers without social or family support are at higher risk. Based on recent personal experience, I can confirm that maternity is an overwhelming time, and lacking support during this transition can lead to feelings of isolation, helplessness and ultimately a mental breakdown, especially in new mothers.
“Managing childcare and self-care becomes a major challenge and, combined with other stresses of maternity, can create a perfect storm of stress, mental health issues and an inability to cope. Furthermore, abuse, especially by a child's father, can lead to mothers harming their children as a means of retaliating against the father or inflicting pain similar to that experienced through abuse,” Poopedi said.
She said there is no definite pattern in the backgrounds of mothers who commit such acts.
“Mothers from diverse backgrounds experiencing a range of factors can be at risk due to the interplay of mental health issues and other contributing factors. For instance, mothers with histories of trauma, existing mental health conditions and significant life stressors may be more vulnerable.”
Poverty that traps mothers in hardship and stress, domestic violence that turns homes into prisons, cultural beliefs that silence conversations about mental health and a lack of family or community support that leaves women feeling utterly alone
— Celeste Louw, general manager of operations at the Tears Foundation
Louw believes that filicide is rarely caused by one factor.
“Poverty that traps mothers in hardship and stress, domestic violence that turns homes into prisons, cultural beliefs that silence conversations about mental health and a lack of family or community support that leaves women feeling utterly alone,” Louw said.
These mothers often send out warning signs.
“A woman who withdraws from everyone, seems hopeless, or says, 'I can’t do this any more' is raising a red flag. Others become paranoid, confused or emotionally numb. Some even neglect their children because they feel completely detached. These are not weaknesses, they are cries for help. If we notice and act early, lives can be saved,” she said.
Crime expert and research associate at University of Johannesburg Calvin Rafadi described the recent wave of brutal attacks on babies across the country as “deeply disturbing and reflective of a growing social crisis”.
Rafadi highlighted that in many filicide cases where mothers were the perpetrators, deeply concerning patterns have emerged.
“Some of these women suffer from untreated mental health issues, others are heavily addicted to drugs or alcohol, some commit these crimes for ritualistic purposes, and, in certain tragic instances, it’s driven by revenge or unresolved conflict with the child’s father,” he said.
He added that the mother may even claim that the child reminds them of the father, triggering horrific acts.
Rafadi referred to the case of Joshlin Smith and said “some mothers who commit these crimes are calculated, manipulative and present themselves as victims to escape suspicion”.
Rafadi emphasised that such crimes were often premeditated and carefully concealed, making early detection extremely difficult for law enforcement.
“Most of these crimes are planned in isolation which makes it hard to intercept them before it’s too late or before they could be executed,” Rafadi said.
Poopedi stressed that some common warning signs that neighbours and family may look out for in a mother experiencing mental health issues include significant changes in behaviour, self-neglect, reduced affection towards the child or displaying resentment, acting out of character, increased irritability, mood swings and social withdrawal.
“Expressions of despair or hopelessness and suicidal ideation, such as talking about death as an escape or expressing thoughts of harming oneself, are also important warning signs,” she said.
She noted that prevention and early intervention are important in avoiding tragedies of this nature.
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