'Murderous' daughter tried to poison mom three days earlier, for R80K policy payout - police

Johannesburg - The woman accused of holding down her mother as her boyfriend and another man raped then killed her had allegedly tried to poison her few days earlier.

However, Nonhlanhla Mthunywa's plot failed and she and others devised another plan to kill her.

This was revealed by Mpumalanga police spokesperson Brigadier Leonard Hlathi when speaking to The Star on Friday.

Hlathi said Mthunywa, who is now behind bars for her mother's rape and murder, had tried to kill her before.

"There was an alleged attempt on Wanter Dlamini's life on January 3 this year where a dangerous substance was mixed with her drink at her house.

"The drink was allegedly spiked by Mthunywa and her boyfriend. She (Dlamini) didn’t take that drink that day. She apparenlty smelled it and said she was not going to drink it because it had been spiked," Hlathi said.

Three days later, Dlamini's body was discovered on the side of the road.

Allegations are that when the poison plot failed, Mthunywa invited her to her house on the other side of Barberton.

There, the 62-year-old woman was allegedly kidnapped, assaulted, senselessly gang-raped by two men while Mthunywa and her female friend were holding her down.

"When the suspects were done with their barbaric deeds, they strangled Dlamini to death, wrapped her body with a blanket and then hid it in an outside toilet," Hlathi said.

Later that day Mthunywa's 29-year-old sister arrived and was informed that her mother's body had been hidden in the toilet.

She allegedly got restless and organised transport which helped to remove the body. It was dumped in a nearby veld and a passerby who stumbled upon it alerted police.

Hlathi said investigations later revealed that the motive for the murder was a R80 000 insurance policy which would have paid out upon Dlamini's death.

He also said both the sisters' had planned their mother's murder and were currently behind bars.

The boyfriends and Mthunywa's female friends, who is believed to have been the mastermind, are still on the run.

The Star