A woman’s drastic plan to save her marriage has allegedly backfired.
The alleged plan was to poison her friend, steal her child and later present it as her own to her husband and in-laws after allegedly telling her husband she was pregnant.
She now stands accused of allegedly poisoning and killing her friend with Masta 900 in an attempt to claim ownership of her child and has since been arrested for allegedly taking away the 18-month-old without consent. Twenty-six-year-old Nothando Sibandze, of Ngudzeni, appeared before Senior Magistrate Nonhlanhla Dlamini at the Matsapha Circuit Court charged with murder and contravening the Children’s Protection and Welfare Act of 2012.
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Sibandze was said to have allegedly laced her friend Nosipho Bhembe’s potato chips with poison. Both Bhembe and her child reportedly ate the chips, the friend later died, while the child was hospitalised. The alleged incident occurred at Ndzevane in Matsapha on October 5, and the accused was arrested the following Monday.
According to sources familiar with the matter, Sibandze had reportedly been married to a man in the Hhohho region, but had fled her marital home, claiming her in-laws had been abusive towards her because she was unable to have children.
“This abuse had been going on for about four years before she finally decided to leave and went to Pretoria,” one source was quoted as saying.
It was further alleged that, before leaving, Sibandze deceitfully told her husband that she was pregnant. Upon her return to Eswatini, she reportedly discovered that there was a funeral at her marital home. As she was still legally married, she was expected to attend. The same sources said, because Sibandze had previously claimed to be pregnant, her husband and in-laws expected her to return with a baby. “Since she was supposed to introduce the child to her in-laws, she decided to borrow her friend’s child and presented her as her own,” one of the sources alleged.
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The in-laws were said to have shown great affection towards the child, believing she was Sibandze’s biological daughter. After the visit, Sibandze allegedly returned the child to Matsapha. “However, she later decided to kill her friend so she could claim ownership of the child,” the source claimed.
Police were called to the scene and, following investigations, reportedly arrested Sibandze. During her court appearance, the charges were read to her. On the first count of murder, she was accused of wrongfully, unlawfully and intentionally killing Nosipho Bhembe by poisoning her at Ndzevane on October 5.
On the second count, Sibandze was said to have contravened Section 77(1)(b) of the Children’s Protection and Welfare Act of 2012 by wrongfully and unlawfully taking Slindokuhle Dlamini, an 18-month-old girl from Nhlangano, without appropriate consent from her parents, from Matsapha to Engudzeni. Sibandze was remanded in custody until October 27 pending further investigation. The matter is expected to be transferred to the High Court.
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