South African man allegedly kills his son and two other family members with poisoned cakes for insurance money

Police in South Africa’s North West province have discovered a murder linked to insurance fraud. A 62-year-old man was arrested for allegedly feeding poisoned cakes to three family members, including his own son.

The three deaths occurred over a three-year period after the accused, Daniel Mokwai, offered them cakes that had been poisoned.

Police said it was initially believed that all three of the dead, including his 31-year-old son, had died of natural causes.

North West police spokesperson Colonel Adele Myburgh said Mokwai had filed insurance claims for all three deceased. She said the bodies of all three deceased had been exhumed and pathology reports confirmed they had been poisoned, leading to the murder investigation.

In the first incident, reported on Saturday, December 5, 2020, a 16-year-old boy died after eating the cake that was given to him. He was a relative of the suspect’s wife. He died in the afternoon between Phuduhudu and Gopane, close to Bloemhof.

A year later, on December 1, 2021, another relative of the suspect’s wife died overnight in Boitumelong township, outside Bloemhof. The boy, aged 16, also died after eating a cake bought by the suspect.

The third case involved the suspect’s son, Mothibi Alpheos Mokwai, 31, who died on Sunday, October 9, 2022 after eating a cake in his home on Matthyssestraat, Bloemhof.

Mokwai was arrested on Monday and subsequently appeared in the Bloemhof Magistrate’s Court on Wednesday, charged with three counts of murder.

The court extended his detention until Wednesday, September 4. The postponement was intended to give him the opportunity to receive legal assistance.

“In all three cases, the suspect successfully claimed on his insurance policies. However, family members reported him to the police after they suspected that he had murdered their relatives by allegedly buying all three cakes for them. They subsequently fell ill after eating the cake and eventually died,” Myburgh said.