Thursday, November 09, 2006 Edition 2 - The Star Online
MATTHEW SAVIDES
The safety of children in and outside school grounds has again been thrust into the spotlight following the death of a 15-year-old Durban boy who was stabbed outside his Clare Estate school.
Yesterday's killing has been condemned by the KwaZulu Natal Education Department, police and child welfare groups, who emphasised the importance of children feeling safe not only while on school property but also while arriving at, and leaving the grounds.
Police spokesperson Superintendent Danelia Veldhuizen said the child, whose name had not been released, was a pupil at the Clareville Primary School and was leaving the school soon after 2.30pm when he was approached by five boys from the Valley View Place of Safety.
Valley View houses about 60 boys who are awaiting trial on various charges.
"Apparently the boy was walking home when he was approached by five guys," Veldhuizen said. "They had an argument and the child was stabbed once in the heart with a piece of glass. What they do is to take a piece of plastic and put it at the end of the glass like a handle, which turns it into a kind of knife," she said.
It appeared that they were arguing about a relationship one of the five boys was having with the murdered child's sister. Netcare 911 spokesperson Chris Botha said the boy had died on the scene.
According to Veldhuizen, the five boys had gone to the school the previous day to look for the boy, but when they saw the school principal nearby, "they backed off and decided to wait for him today".
Four of the boys were arrested over the murder and were held in police custody for questioning. The fifth boy escaped and was being sought by police. All are believed to be between the ages of 14 and 16.
KwaZulu Natal Department of Education spokesperson Christie Naudé expressed condolences to the child's family and condemned the incident, describing it as "regrettable" and "senseless".
She admitted that the incident, and others in which children had been injured or killed, showed that safety of children at schools was a problem.
"This is a different issue because it happened outside the school grounds, but it emphasises that all young children need to learn how to handle conflict," she said, adding that the life skills and orientation curriculum in place at schools did attempt to address conflict management.
She added that the problem was one that the department alone could not handle, but that society needed to change.