Uncle gets four life sentences for children's murders
A man who has admitted to the murders of his four nieces and nephews in southern KZN last year has been handed four life sentences.
Thirty-two-year-old Ben Mbhele pleaded guilty on Friday to killing siblings 12-year-old Bandile Mbhele, 10-year-old Lwandile, 7-year-old Sphindile and 4-year-old Lwandle.
The children were found with multiple stab wounds at their home in Ncukeni on the morning of the 2nd of September.
Their left ears had been cut off.
Mbhele was arrested over two weeks ago, following months of investigations.
The children's aunt, Phakamile Mbhele, says they are satisfied with the sentence the Pietermaritzburg High Court has handed to her brother.
She says they are still dealing with the loss.
"We are very happy about the sentencing. We were very hurt about what happened. He really inflicted a lot of pain on the family. I just came from the court and I won't lie - it was painful finding out that he did this and it still is," she said.
Phakamile says her brother had called the family and explained to them why he stabbed the children.
"He had requested for the family to come see him after he was arrested. He told us the reason why he had done this. He said his partner had requested for the children's body parts so that they could take it to a traditional healer.
"It was really painful to see the police take him in. That's when we discovered it was him who did this. We were living in the same house with this man. We had hoped it was someone we did not know," she said.