He said the sisters had already suffered trauma and were still battling with severe depression after the incident.
However, Cowan said the offence was serious.
“What happened here is very simple, two accused were drinking at home in the presence of children who ended up burning to death. They decided to go out and drink more. They locked the children in the shack and went out drinking. There was an inferno, a horrific fire, but the children couldn't get out.
“The terror and the helplessness as the fire burnt with the children inside. Perhaps they beat the shack, or clung together in distress. The injuries to the little baby — her fists were clenched. The post-mortem report described the body: the internal organs of these little children were burnt and damaged by the fire, and the clothing was burnt off, with only scraps remaining. Imagine the indescribable pain and suffering of the five children burning alive. These little souls are gone forever. This wasn't an accident — this was outright criminal negligence. Imagine the screams of terror of these children as they burnt alive,” he said.
Lindiwe sobbed as the magistrate spoke, clenching her fists over her ears.
“Now they don't want to go to prison because they want to take care of the remaining children. What about the time you went drinking? Weeping and snivelling will not bring those children back,” Cowan said.
Lindiwe was the grandmother of two of the children, one younger than two years and the other aged two, while Zanele was the mother of the three other children.
Tendering plea statements earlier, the accused said they did not want to relive the events of the incident or put their families under the trauma of having to testify in court.
The sisters said they were alerted by neighbours that the shack had been engulfed in flames and collapsed when they arrived on the scene. They learnt later that the children in the shack were burnt beyond recognition.
As they were escorted to the holding cells, the sisters waved to their family.
TimesLIVE reported how emergency services from Tshwane were alerted to the blaze at 4.26am last year in August. It destroyed six shacks at the informal settlement.
TimesLIVE
'Outright negligence': Laudium sisters get prison time for children's deaths in shack fire
'Imagine the indescribable pain and suffering of the five children burning alive': magistrate Allan Cowan
Reporter
Image: 123RF/jteivans
Atteridgeville regional court magistrate Allan Cowan said the actions of two sisters from the Itireleng informal settlement near Laudium who pleaded guilty to culpable homicide after the deaths of five children in a shack in August 2023 were selfish and self-serving.
“The lives of these children were cut short because of the negligence of the parents,” he said.
Lindiwe Machaka, 39, and Zanele Machaka, 37, were on Monday sentenced to five years in prison in terms of the Criminal Procedure Act.
They will have to serve at least one-sixth of their sentence before it is converted to a release under correctional supervision.
Additionally, they received a further five-year sentence, which has been suspended for five years on condition they are not convicted of murder or culpable homicide during this period.
Their attorney Vuyisile Silimela begged for the court's mercy, arguing that the two sisters still had other remaining children to take care of, and that sending them to prison would affect the children.
He said the sisters had already suffered trauma and were still battling with severe depression after the incident.
However, Cowan said the offence was serious.
“What happened here is very simple, two accused were drinking at home in the presence of children who ended up burning to death. They decided to go out and drink more. They locked the children in the shack and went out drinking. There was an inferno, a horrific fire, but the children couldn't get out.
“The terror and the helplessness as the fire burnt with the children inside. Perhaps they beat the shack, or clung together in distress. The injuries to the little baby — her fists were clenched. The post-mortem report described the body: the internal organs of these little children were burnt and damaged by the fire, and the clothing was burnt off, with only scraps remaining. Imagine the indescribable pain and suffering of the five children burning alive. These little souls are gone forever. This wasn't an accident — this was outright criminal negligence. Imagine the screams of terror of these children as they burnt alive,” he said.
Lindiwe sobbed as the magistrate spoke, clenching her fists over her ears.
“Now they don't want to go to prison because they want to take care of the remaining children. What about the time you went drinking? Weeping and snivelling will not bring those children back,” Cowan said.
Lindiwe was the grandmother of two of the children, one younger than two years and the other aged two, while Zanele was the mother of the three other children.
Tendering plea statements earlier, the accused said they did not want to relive the events of the incident or put their families under the trauma of having to testify in court.
The sisters said they were alerted by neighbours that the shack had been engulfed in flames and collapsed when they arrived on the scene. They learnt later that the children in the shack were burnt beyond recognition.
As they were escorted to the holding cells, the sisters waved to their family.
TimesLIVE reported how emergency services from Tshwane were alerted to the blaze at 4.26am last year in August. It destroyed six shacks at the informal settlement.
TimesLIVE
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