A woman was arrested on Tuesday for killing her children by slitting their throats in Mbutshane outside Pietermaritzburg, KwaZulu-Natal police said.

"The 24-year-old was handed over to the police by a community member," said Inspector Joey Jeevan.

The children, aged five and three, were found dead on Tuesday morning. There were open wounds to their heads and necks. An axe and a knife were found on the scene.

Jeevan said the children's grandmother was about to prepare their school food when her daughter run past her kraal.

"She immediately proceeded to her daughter?s kraal where she made the gruesome discovery," she said.

The mother was later found wandering around a nearby soccer field.