Two children killed after eating dad's alleged rat poison laced food in Ekurhuleni

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The fatal poisoning of two Gauteng children allegedly by their father is believed to have been the tragic culmination of years of the little kids being abused by him. Mikael, 10, and his little sister Michelle, 5, met a harrowing death on Thursday evening after eating mincemeat prepared by their father, Nthato Moloi. Moloi allegedly laced the meal with lethal doses of rat poison, which caused the children to froth heavily at the mouth, dying excruciatingly at their home in Tshongweni Section in Katlehong, Ekurhuleni. The children’s mother, 33-year-old Rudy Moloi, is fighting for her life in the intensive care unit of an Alberton hospital after also eating the meal. Rudy collapsed moments before an ambulance arrived to declare her children dead after she had frantically carried her son and daughter to neighbours when they started bubbling up foam from the mouth.

Gauteng police spokesperson Captain Mavela Masondo confirmed om Tuesday that an inquest docket had been opened to investigate the allegation that Nthato killed his children with rat poison.

The father is also at a hospital in Ekurhuleni after allegedly ingesting the same poison on Friday - the day after his children’s tragic death.

“The inquest will determine whether the father (Moloi) was the one who poisoned the children to death,” Masondo said.

Sibongile Letele, Rudy’s distraught mother, told The Star that she had always suspected that her daughter and grandchildren were suffering at the hands of Moloi.

Letele said her grandchildren were always locked up alone inside the house because they were not in school as unemployed Nthato wanted to homeschool them.

“I always suspected that Rudy was in trouble, but when I would ask her, she wouldn’t tell me straight as to what was wrong. I even asked her to bring the children to stay with me in Soweto, but she refused.

“She said Moloi would not allow the children to leave. He stayed with them always and didn’t even want them to go to school,” a traumatised Letele said.

“I found it strange that Nthato (Moloi) did not work and relied on my daughter to support him and the children. But Rudy would just brush all of this aside,” she added.

At the house on Tuesday, grim artwork compiled by the children was visible on the wall. One such drawing, which was done by Mikael, had what seemed like a picture of his father, with an insert of himself, his sister and mother in darkened fashion.

“This shows the pain these children were going through. They wanted to escape from this situation,” said Beverly Mofokeng, the children’s aunt.

The Star spoke to her moments after she had returned from visiting her sister in ICU.

“At least there is hope now. She was responsive for the first time today, so we can see improvement.”

The children will be buried on Saturday at their paternal family home in Soweto.

The Star