A 21-year-old Hluhluwe woman has been jailed for 12 years after the Mtubatuba Regional Court found she murdered her newborn baby. She gave birth at home in August 2024 and dumped the full-term infant in a pit toilet, where relatives later found the body.

Medical evidence confirmed the baby was alive before being discarded. The court deviated from a life sentence, citing her age, and another minor child. The case has renewed concern about baby abandonment in the province.