Boys from Masibonisane High brought knobkerries, knives and pangas to school to fight

Two high school pupils are fighting for their lives in hospital after a brawl between two groups from two villages near Peddie.

The two groups attend Masibonisane High School.

School governing body chair James Dawethi said the groups first clashed on Saturday evening at his home in Qawukeni, where there was a traditional ceremony.

“The group from Khalane came armed to the ceremony on Saturday, but they hid their weapons on arrival,” Dawethi said.

“At around 7pm the boys from our village came running into the house and chaos ensued.

“We heard that they were being attacked by the visiting boys, but we didn’t know the reason behind the attack.

“We managed to separate them and the other boys left.”

He said on Sunday the group from Khalane returned and allegedly launched a second attack.

The Qawukeni group retaliated.

One boy from Khalane was so badly wounded he cannot speak because of head injuries.

“The boys ran away and we thought this was the end of the clash.

“On Monday, the Khalane group came to school armed and during the morning prayers they attacked the Qawukeni group. There was chaos,” Dawethi said.

During the fight on Monday, one boy from Qawukeni was stabbed in the collarbone area. Dawethi said the boy was transferred to a Bhisho hospital to drain blood clots resulting from internal bleeding.

The two injured boys are in Grade 9 and 11 respectively.

He said the school was closed on Monday and the boys were instructed to return to school accompanied by their parents on Tuesday.

“It was shocking to discover that the boys were still armed [on Tuesday]. The local boys handed over knobkerries, knives and pangas, but the other group denied carrying any weapons.

“The meeting proceeded and we reminded both groups of the school rules.

“We warned them against continued conflict on and outside school premises, but we could see that there was still hostility between the groups.”

Dawethi said the school suspected some of the boys used drugs and that this had contributed to their behaviour.

“There is no security at the school and that is a great concern because you don’t know what these boys bring onto school premises. That’s why we resolved to report the matter to the police, but we agreed not to register any charges.

“We want the police to monitor the situation because this could spill over to the villagers and we don’t want a mini-war between these two villages,” he said.

A parent and resident in Qawukeni, Mkhuseli Zenzile, said: “We are shocked because no one was prepared for this to happen on school premises during prayer time.

“When I received the call on Monday morning alerting me to the fight, I thought the boys were fighting on the street.

“Arriving at the school and seeing children screaming and running in all directions was a real shock. These boys attacked one another with knobkerries.

“There was more than one wielding sharp objects because one of the boys from our village was stabbed in the shoulder.

“From what I hear this started after the boys from another village forcefully took alcohol belonging to the boys from this side.

“We have yet to hear the whole story about what exactly started the fight,” Zenzile said.

Area councillor Bulela Ntabeni said security was needed at the school gate.

“These boys come to school under the influence of alcohol or drugs, or both. This case is an example because this thing did not start here at school.

“It started over the weekend, but it ended up playing itself out on the school premises on another day,” Ntabeni said.

Provincial education spokesperson Malibongwe Mtima said the department had advised the school to involve the police. He appealed to parents to do random checks of their children’s school bags before and after school.

Provincial police spokesperson Brig Tembinkosi Kinana said police and school leadership would address parents and pupils to stop the clashes.

“We were disappointed to hear from the parents that they would not be registering criminal charges. Should this blow out of proportion, the community will blame the police, hence we encourage people to report criminal activities and we will continue to maintain law and order,” Kinana said.