The police in North West have arrested a father for allegedly poisoning his two-year-old son to death. 

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SAPS spokesperson Colonel Amanda Funani said the suspect is expected to appear at the Stillfontein Magistrate's Court today on a charge of murder after the toddler died in hospital. Funani, said the 30-year-old man separated from his children's mother and allegedly seeking attention from her.

"According to information at our disposal, the father went to his girlfriend's home in Kanana, near Klerksdorp, and demanded to be given his three children, aged eight, four and two. The next day the woman said the children could visit their father, provided that her brother went with them," she said. 

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Funani added that when the brother and children arrived at their father's house, the father instructed the brother to leave.

"The uncle left with the four-year-old and left the two boys behind. Later that day, the father allegedly called the children's mother and told her he was going to do something.The mother then called the children's grandmother, who informed her that they were on the way to hospital after the suspect allegedly poisoned himself and the two children," Funani said. She said the two-year-old became gravely ill and landed in hospital. 

"It was discovered that the older children did not swallow the poison.The youngest child died in hospital and the father was arrested once he was released from hospital," Funani said. Provincial police commissioner, Lieutenant General Sello Kwena, condemned the incident.

"The child died at the hands of his father, someone who was supposed to protect them," Funani added.