Teen who allegedly stabbed fellow Potchefstroom pupil to death handed over to police by his parents
11 June 2019
Police in the North West have arrested a teen who allegedly stabbed and killed another 15-year-old who was on his way home from school in Potchefstroom on Monday.
"It is alleged that [Felies] Sithembile was on his way home from school, just after 14:00, when the suspect who is also a learner at another school, stabbed him with a knife.
"The incident occurred along Segwaleane Road," police spokesperson Colonel Adéle Myburgh said in a statement on Tuesday.
The suspect fled the scene, but was handed over to the police by his parents on Tuesday morning.
"He will be processed in terms of the Child Justice Act, 2008 (Act No. 75 of 2008)," Myburgh added.
North West police commissioner Lieutenant General Baile Motswenyane expressed shock over the incident and other similar crimes at schools across the country.
"While the police are working hard to implement crime prevention programmes at schools, the public has a responsibility to assist in curbing violence that is being experienced, through moral regeneration and other relevant programmes," she said.
Earlier this month, 19-year-old Forest High School pupil Mohamed Mwela allegedly stabbed Daniel Bakwela, 16, to death and injured two others outside the Turffontein school in Johannesburg. He is facing murder and two attempted murder charges.
Mwela was granted bail of R5 000 by the Johannesburg Magistrate's Court on Monday and ordered not to interact with witnesses or enter the school until the trial is finalised.
As a result, the Gauteng Department of Education has requested the police to closely monitor the area around the school.
