34-year-old lesbian sentenced for killing her two children

A 34-year-old South African lesbian, Busisiwe Labi, has been sentenced to 22 years and six months imprisonment for killing her two children.

It was gathered that Labi suffocated her two boys to death, one-year-old Othandwayo and six-year-old Amyoli, with plastic bags at their home last September.

Judge Belinda Hartle of Bhisho High Court Judge in the Eastern Cape handed Labi the jail term on Thursday, August 19, for each of the children’s murders but ordered that the sentences run concurrently.

According to NPA Regional spokesperson, Anelisa Ngcakani, Labi had lived at her home in Dimbaza with her children, her mother and her two siblings.

Before murdering them, she informed the children of her plans to kill them. The eldest boy, Amyoli, pleaded with her not to do so but his plea fell on deaf ears. She prayed with the boys, took turns to suffocate them to death with plastic bags and pillows and thereafter laid their bodies neatly on a bed.

Labi was found guilty of the two murder charges on 22 July 2021.

A Psycho-Legal report presented in court revealed that Labi confessed to being a homosexual in sexuality since Grade 7 and that her family did not approve of her sexuality.

The report further stated that Labi had said that she engaged in heterosexual relationships with the fathers of her children because her family did not approve of her homosexuality and that her mother wanted grandchildren. She further added that she had boyfriends to satisfy her mother.

Judge Belinda Hartle during sentencing quoted Labi’s sentiments that although she loved her children she didn’t want to be a mother.

The court also heard that Labi had a conflicted relationship with her mother as she allegedly never revealed the identity of Labi’s father until she was in high school. The report revealed that Labi was angry towards her mother and felt betrayed