The family of Phemelo More, 13, is devastated by his untimely death.
The Grade 7 pupil from Senzile Combined School in Hertzogville, Free State, had gone to fetch his friend at Kegomoditswe Primary School when he was stabbed to death by another pupil.
Phemelo's sister Jonica, 25, said: "It's very disturbing that we sent him to school only for him to come back in a body bag. We heard that he went to Kegomoditswe to fetch his friend. It is alleged that at the school the suspect insulted him and Phemelo retaliated by klapping him. Apparently the suspect’s seven-year-old friend passed him a knife, which he used to stab my brother."
Police spokesperson Cpt Stephen Thakeng said Phemelo died at the scene and the two boys were arrested and released into the custody of their parents.
Jonica said no parent expected to be called at school only to find their child's lifeless body as the school is supposed to be a safe place.
"My brother was very quiet and he wanted to be a police officer. I worry about my siblings and cousins when they go to school in the morning and wonder if they will come back alive," she said.
At Intabazwe Township in Harrismith, Free State, Nhlanhla Ngcongwane, 19, was stabbed to death by a fellow pupil at Lerato-Uthando Comprehensive School. This happened two months after Sibusiso Mazibuko was also stabbed to death at the school.
According to the police, it is alleged that Ngcongwane, a Grade 10 pupil, went to the Grade 11 class where a group of boys were playing with a cellphone. He grabbed it and refused to give it back and the suspect, 17, allegedly stabbed him once in the chest.
After the incident, the school pledged, via its Facebook page, to create a conducive environment for teaching and learning and to promote a safe and secure environment for all.
Molise Mphuthi, a parent, said the incidents of stabbings at schools were worrying.
"The department has to start acting as we had two incidents of stabbings in a space of two months at Lerato-Thando Senior Secondary School. We can't afford to take our children to other schools because a lot of parents are unemployed," he said.
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