Grieving dad sues wife who drowned their daughter

A heartbroken father is suing his wife for R5m for pain and suffering after she murdered their four-year-old daughter.

Madelein Ackerman, who is serving an 18-year sentence in Westville prison for the murder, was recently put under curatorship because, it was alleged, she is suffering from severe depression and cannot represent herself in legal proceedings against her health-care executive husband, André.

In June last year Ackerman, 47, pleaded guilty in the KwaDukuza magistrate’s court to drowning their daughter Layla in two buckets of water at the family's Ballito home in 2022.

She told the court she had been planning to commit suicide. Because André was frequently away at work, she feared that Layla would be neglected after she killed herself.

She fetched two buckets of water, tied the girl’s hands and drowned her.

Ackerman took sleeping tablets and drank benzene, but woke up later that day. She told her husband and her landlord what she had done.

She told the court she had been suffering from severe depression for years since the birth of her first child from another relationship — a boy in 2012 — which was exacerbated by her husband’s frequent absences. The boy went to live with his father when Layla was almost three.

André, who is now living in Dubai, has brought a court action for damages, describing the murder as the “most shocking and disturbing event” he had ever experienced.

He said in his court papers that he still suffers significant trauma, turmoil and grief.  “She was my only child. I loved her dearly.”

In his victim impact statement in the criminal matter, he said he sees “those buckets” in his nightmares.

In his papers in the civil claim, he denied that he was often he away from home. When Layla was killed, he had been on a two-night work trip to Nairobi.

“In prison, I asked her why she did it. She had no answer. I asked her how she convinced Layla to allow her hands to be tied. She said that they were going to play a game. She said when she started putting the tape on her wrists, Layla had said ‘Mommy, I do not like this game.’

“My heart just bleeds for my child, trusting her mother with her life.”

He said Madelein had shown no sympathy or remorse for what she had done, and he had withdrawn support for her. 

He said he had put his daughter’s ashes in a small calabash, which he kept him at all times.

In March, Pietermaritzburg high court judge Mbuzeni Mathenjwa ruled in favour of an application by Madelein’s sister that she be placed under curatorship for purposes of the pending legal proceedings.

André had opposed the application. His attorney Bianca Larratt told the Sunday Times: “We believe this has been done to remove the evidentiary chain of her criminal actions from the legal proceedings.”

When she started putting the tape on her wrists, Layla had said, ‘Mommy, I do not like this game’

She said the R5m claim was not only for pain and suffering but for economic loss because the trauma had made it impossible for André to work and earn an income.

In his judgment, Mathenjwa noted that Madelein has substantial assets, including a retirement property worth about R1m and R600,000 in an investment account. She owns two other properties valued at about R8m.

The judge said that after her arrest but prior to her guilty plea, Madelein had been sent to Fort Napier psychiatric hospital for assessment.

A private psychiatrist had diagnosed her as suffering from major depressive disorder. The state’s doctors, however, found she was fit to stand trial and that she had been able to appreciate the wrongfulness of her actions.

Her sister said she had been suffering from acute anxiety and serious depression, which resulted in her being hospitalised several times between 2012 and 2022. She had also attempted suicide at least five times. 

It was submitted on her behalf that she is “fragile, depressed and incapable of understanding the repercussions of her actions during court proceedings”. 

André, in opposing the application, argued that she had been found fit to stand trial. She might have depression but she was capable of handling her own affairs and had been capable of instructing her legal representatives in the criminal matter.

An advocate, who was appointed as provisional curator in 2023, reported that she had consulted with Madelein during her trial and frequently at Westville prison.

She had spoken of suicidal thoughts and self-hatred and referred to herself as a “monster”.

Mathenjwa said: “Even though the psychiatrists [in the criminal trial] concluded that she was able to give instruction to her legal representative and follow court proceedings, it is hard to say that someone who struggles with self-management, has attempted suicide multiple times and still feels the need to end her life because of depression, is capable of managing her own affairs.”

He said it was clear from the advocate’s reports that she was not receiving adequate treatment and counselling in prison and would need medical treatment for the rest of her life. 

He declared her incapable of managing her own affairs and appointed the advocate as curatrix ad litem (to represent her in legal proceedings) and her sister as curatrix bonis to take control of her estate and to facilitate her medical care.

In the statement, he denied that he was often he  away from home.