27-year-old woman arrested after two young brothers found dead in suspected poisoning in Limpopo

Police have arrested a 27-year-old woman after two young brothers from Madabani Village were found dead in what investigators suspect was poisoning. The siblings, aged 6 and 8, were discovered in separate incidents on the same day, prompting a murder investigation by Tshilwavhusiku police, SAPS said.

How the incidents unfolded

SAPS spokesperson Colonel Malesela Ledwaba said police were first called to Tshilwavhusiku Health Centre at about 11:10am following a report of a patient suspected to have been poisoned. On arrival, officers were shown the lifeless body of a 6-year-old boy lying on a bed.

Preliminary information indicates the child’s father, who does not reside with him, transported the boy to the clinic at about 9:20am after the child complained of stomach pain, diarrhoea and vomiting earlier that morning.

Separate death later that day

Later the same day, police were alerted at about 12:30pm to a missing 8-year-old boy who had reportedly been at school. A search was conducted and the child was later found dead at his home in Madabani Village.

Ledwaba said the 8-year-old was lying on a bed wearing a blue tracksuit top and long tracksuit trousers, and Emergency Medical Services declared him dead at the scene.

Investigation and arrest

Investigators later established the two deceased children were siblings and that both are suspected to have been poisoned. The probe resulted in the arrest of a 27-year-old woman, believed to be the children’s mother, on Wednesday, June 3, 2026.

Ledwaba said a forensic pathology postmortem examination will be conducted to determine the exact cause of death, and that the motive is unknown at this stage. The suspect is expected to appear in the Tshilwavhusiku Magistrate’s Court on two counts of murder while investigations continue.

What police have said

“Preliminary investigations revealed the two deceased are siblings from Madabani village and both are suspected to have been poisoned.” Colonel Malesela Ledwaba, SAPS

JoburgEtc will update this story as further official information becomes available.