A mother of six was left with nothing in the fields after her stepmother destroyed all the maize she had ploughed.

Ncobile Dlamini had hoped to get something in return next year after investing almost all the money they had towards hiring tractor services and buying ploughing inputs.

This emanated from a longstanding family dispute which has been reported to the Nyakeni Royal Kraal and to the police.

An elderly son, Bheki, said he was shocked when he received a call from his sister notifying him that their stepmother had sprayed some harmful chemical onto the maize, and further uprooted most of the plants in the main fields.

“When I arrived home, I assessed the damage and then called the police while she continued to destroy other things around the homestead,” said the eldest son.

He said when his other siblings arrived, they decided to lock her out of the family house because she was allegedly failing to live in peace with them.

He said a few years ago they took a decision as a family and resolved that the stepmother, Junnet Buthelezi, should leave the homestead because it belonged to their mother who died some years ago while still married to their father.

“After my mother’s death, my father took in another woman and allowed her to stay in my mother’s big house, something which should not happen according to culture.”

He said due to this and other reasons, they registered a case with the local royal kraal in February 2016.