A warrant of arrest has been issued for the mother of the 11-month-old son whose body was found floating in a dam near his Wallacedene home after she missed her second appearance in court.
Xola Mafentile, 20, was arrested on 24 March, two days after she reported baby Akhimbali missing.
She was released on R500 bail the day after she was charged.
The accused’s mother Nowethu says she didn’t have money to take her daughter to Blue Downs Magistrates’ Court.
“I have not been working since March, we’ve been on strike since then,” she explains.
“We asked the investigating officer for a lift and she told us that she wasn’t going to be in court for the appearance and we must find our way to court.
“I have explained to my daughter that she might be thrown back in jail.”
Nowethu says Xola insists she didn’t kill her child: “She told me that she is hoping that the police will find the person who killed her son. And she acknowledges that she abandoned her child but she would never have murdered him.”
The young mother told cops her child had been taken after she left him sleeping while she went to her boyfriend, claiming her friends were supposed to look after him.
But community members who went searching for the baby boy found him in murky waters behind the shacks where they live.
Xola’s next court appearance will be on 22 June.