| September 20, 2008 |
|
| © Copyright applies to all material |
 
 Toddler ‘thrown off bridge‘ Barbara Hollands EAST LONDON CORRESPONDENT hollandsb@avusa.co.za A TEENAGE mother was charged with murder yesterday after allegedly throwing her three-year-old daughter off a bridge outside East London onto the busy highway below. The 19-year-old Mdantsane woman allegedly dumped the little girl over the railings of the bridge over the N2 highway near East London on Wednesday. The child was admitted to Frere Hospital in a critical condition, but died on Thursday night at 8.30pm. After allegedly throwing her toddler off the bridge, the mother handed herself in at a Mdantsane police station. According to police spokesman Captain Leon Fortune, the woman allegedly told officers she could not afford to look after her child. “She said she did not have the money to care for her child and her boyfriend could not support the child financially,” said Fortune. Alderson Ambulance spokesman Oliver Wright said he arrived at the scene on Wednesday at about 8.30pm after a motorist had reported seeing a child lying on the freeway. The little girl, who had lacerations to the head and a broken left leg, was lying some distance away from the bridge, indicating she might have been hit by a car after landing on the tarmac. “Her blanket was under the bridge, but the child was further down the freeway. It looked like she might have fallen on her head,” said Wright. He said while he and members of the traffic police were “trying to figure out what had happened”, an officer found a pair of high heels on the bridge above. “It looked as if someone had taken them off to run.” Wright said the child‘s mother had then arrived on the scene with the SAPS after handing herself over. By that time her critically injured daughter had been taken to hospital. “The child had warm clothes on and did not appear neglected.” Yesterday the dazed-looking young woman appeared in the East London regional court where magistrate Fanie Goosen charged her with murder. Dressed in jeans and a windcheater with a towel wrapped around her chest, she showed no emotion during her brief appearance. She may not be named until she pleads. The accused remains in custody until Monday when a date will be set for a bail hearing. The case has been postponed until October 31.
|
 |
Graduates are our new gold THE great tragedy about modern South Africa is not that it or its people are short of opportunity. Of that, we have plenty. Our downfall, ultimately, is very likely to be our growing inability to take advantage of the incredible human and natural resources with which we have been blessed, and to turn them into long-term benefits.... 
Luxury urban retreat is the definitive holiday hideout BY SIMPLY driving past, you could be forgiven for thinking that it doesn‘t house that much more than its neighbouring upmarket properties. It has an elegant exterior which definitely suggests fine living, but nothing quite prepares a visitor for what you discover inside.... 
Much at stake for Cheetahs in Cup clash with Blue Bulls Special Correspondent in JOHANNESBURG AFTER a four-year honeymoon in the Currie Cup, the Cheetahs face the harsh reality of possibly losing out on a semifinal spot if they lose without a bonus point against the Blue Bulls in Bloemfontein today.... 
East Cape ever ready to be valuable source of clean energy for SA Sipho Masondo BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT masondos@avusa.co.za GLOBAL warming and the local power crisis have opened up a window of export opportunities for a Port Elizabeth company to supply the international community with wind turbines.... 
Taut and gripping theatre in classic court drama DON‘T miss this excellent courtroom drama, which is playing at the Little Theatre until next weekend. Director Lesley Barnard marshals a solid cast of young and old to track down who is responsible for the death of a Marine Private Santiago, at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba.... |
