Johannesburg Mother Arrested for Making Child Smoke Drugs Charged With Attempted Murder

• A Johannesburg court charged a mother and three others with attempted murder after they were arrested on 29 and 30 July 2025
• The mother and her co-accused were arrested after a video of them forcing her four-year-old child to smoke drugs went viral
• South Africans welcomed the court's decision to remand her in custody until early August

Tebogo Mokwena, a Briefly News current affairs journalist based in Johannesburg, South Africa, covered a range of criminal activities, including cash-in-transit heists, kidnappings, taxi violence, police investigations, police shootouts, and court cases at Daily Sun for over three years.

JOHANNESBURG— A woman from Newclare in Johannesburg appeared before the Johannesburg Magistrates Court in Johannesburg on 31 July 2025 after she was arrested for forcing her four year-old child to smoke drugs.

According to TimesLIVE, the woman was charged with attempted murder and appeared in court two days after she was arrested. Three men who were allegedly with her during the horrific incident were arrested on 30 July. All four of them have been charged with attempted murder and child abuse for exposing the child to a harmful substance.

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The accused have been remanded in custody and the case has been postponed for a bail hearing on 4 August.The woman and her accomplices went viral after a video of them making the child smoke drugs trended. The Johannesburg Metro Police Department arrested them.

In the video, the woman is seen forcing the mother to light the bottleneck and take a pull from it. The video caused public outrage and many called for action to be taken against her, resulting in a swift arrest.

Tiffany Meek arrested

Tiffany Meek, Jayden-Lee Meek's mother, was arrested in July, two months after her child's body was found outside their flat in Fleurhof, Roodepoort on 11 May 2025. She had initially reported him missing, and in an interview with eNCA, she slammed the South African Police Service for not apprehending the suspect.

What did South Africans say?

Netizens commented on the charge.

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Moodley Sharon said:

"Good. Nice precedent set."

Lieketseng Keke Moalosi said:

"The way that child was smoking you could tel that it was not the first time. Thank God those monsters exposed themselves."

Lindo Lee Nkosi said:

"Good. Set an example that sometimes the dangerous things that we take lightly are still crimes in SA."

Natasha Masuku said:

"This is a hard lesson learned. I hope the rest will learn from this."

Thato Mabasa said:

"I like the fact that someone tipped off the police about the mother's whereabouts."

Lloyd King Nabjwa said:

"She must not get bail."

Tiffany Meek charged with murder of Jayden Meek

In a related article, Briefly News reported that Tiffany Meek was charged with the murder of her son, Jayden-Lee Meek. This was after she was arrested.

Meek initially reported her son as missing and his body was found on 11 May 2025 a day after she reported him. South Africans were stunned by the arrest.

Source: Briefly News