KEY POINTS
- A Limpopo grandmother received a 10-year prison term for repeatedly assaulting her 4-year-old grandson over bedwetting, including threats of genital mutilation.
- The conviction followed neighbor and boyfriend testimonies about visible scars and the child’s constant fear, with prosecutors securing the maximum sentence.
- Child welfare groups cite the case as exposing systemic failures in family-based abuse detection, prompting new intervention programs.
A 43-year-old Botlokwa grandmother will spend the next decade behind bars after the Morebeng Regional Court handed down a maximum sentence for the brutal assault of her four-year-old grandson, a case that has shocked Limpopo and highlighted South Africa’s ongoing child protection crisis.
The court heard harrowing testimony about systematic abuse that began in 2023 when the grandmother, whose identity remains protected to safeguard the victim, began punishing the toddler for bedwetting with escalating violence.
“She not only struck the child with a tree stick repeatedly but even attempted to inflict further injury by threatening to cut the boy’s private parts as a misguided solution,” revealed National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) spokesperson Mashudu Malabi-Dzhangi.
Court hears details as grandmother gets maximum sentence
According to IOL, Neighbours finally intervened when the boy’s visible injuries – including permanent facial and body scars – could no longer be ignored.
The final report came from the grandmother’s then-boyfriend, whose testimony proved crucial in securing the conviction. State Advocate Andrew Kgatla described how “the victim lived in constant fear, knowing that any instance of bedwetting could lead to further physical harm.”
Child rights organizations have seized on the case to highlight gaps in South Africa’s child protection systems. “This isn’t just about punishment – we need earlier intervention mechanisms,” said Childline Limpopo director Thandi Mokoena, noting that nearly 40% of child abuse cases in the province involve family members as perpetrators.
The grandmother maintained her innocence throughout the trial, but presiding Magistrate Thandi Nkosi found the witness accounts incontrovertible. In sentencing remarks, Nkosi emphasized that “the vulnerability of the victim and breach of familial trust warranted the harshest permissible sentence.”
Limpopo’s Director of Public Prosecutions Ivy Thenga praised the outcome as a victory for child protection, while social workers confirm the boy is now in foster care receiving trauma counseling.
The case has reignited debate about cultural attitudes toward corporal punishment, with the Department of Social Development announcing new community workshops on positive parenting techniques.
