Boy asks mom's attacker: Are you going to kill me as well?

Are you going to kill me as well? This is what a 5-year-old boy is said to have asked the woman who allegedly assaulted his mother in front of him and stabbed her to death.

The suspect had worked for the family, Netwerk24 reported.

Wilma van Tonder, a housewife from Lonehill, Sandton, was murdered on October 12. She would have turned 43 on Wednesday.

The child apparently spent hours with his mother’s body before his father, Mario, arrived home. 

The child’s shirt was drenched in blood, said Wilkus du Toit, Wilma’s brother.

Domestic worker arrested

Norma Mudondo, a domestic worker who had been employed by the Van Tonders, was arrested at Florida Lake on Sunday and appeared in the Randburg Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday. She was denied bail.

“Apparently the boy had asked the woman whether she was going to kill him as well,” said Du Toit.

“One sees things like this in the movies, but this was a fit of rage and it was terrifying.”

Someone at the child's older brother's school had noticed he hadn’t been fetched by 15:00 and called Mario, Du Toit said.

“Mario called paramedics, rushed home and found his wife’s body.”

The boys are staying with their grandmother, who lives near them, for the time being.

“Mario and the children stayed there for a few weeks. They couldn’t go back to the house where Wilma was murdered,” said Du Toit.

Family and friends had arranged a get together for Wednesday evening for celebrate her life and birthday.

“Wilma was an excellent cook. Everyone used to say she should open her own restaurant. All her friends are going to get together for a meal, share their memories and remember her love for food and entertaining,” said Du Toit.

According to a source who worked closely with the Hawks after the murder, Mudondo had fled to KwaZulu-Natal before returning to Johannesburg a few weeks later.

“We heard she was back in Johannesburg and planning to hold a party at Florida Lake. Together with the Hawks we set up a task team to arrest her. That’s when we got her.”

According to the source, Mudondo’s nickname is “Jackie Chan”.

She will appear in court again on January 27.