Two children stabbed to death

GEORGE NEWS - Two children, from Conville and Thembalethu respectively, were brutally murdered during the past week.

On Monday 23 August a teenager (14) from Conville briefly appeared in the George Magistrate's Court on a charge of murder after he allegedly stabbed a 12-year-old boy to death in Tinktinkie Street the previous day.

Southern Cape police spokesperson, Capt Malcolm Pojie, said the victim, Austin Kiewiets, and his friends were accompanying another friend home when the young suspect allegedly accosted them and stabbed the victim.

"It is alleged that the suspect drew a knife and stabbed the deceased in the left side of his chest. He succumbed to the injury on the scene and was later declared dead by paramedics who responded to the incident," said Pojie.

The young suspect reportedly fled the scene on foot but was handed over to police by his parents shortly after the incident and was placed under arrest. The suspect, who has been released into the care of his parents, will make his next court appearance on 28 September. His identity may not be made public as he is a minor.

A drive-by memorial service will be held for Kiewiets on Friday 27 August at 14:00 in Peddie Muller Street, Conville.

Horror struck in Thembalethu on Thursday evening, 19 August, when an eight-year-old boy, Imange Jantjies, was allegedly brutally stabbed to death by his mother's enraged boyfriend, Zipho Nqoko (23).

The incident allegedly followed an altercation between the child's mother and the suspect, after which the suspect, who is believed to be a security guard, took the child to his shack and stabbed him to death.The young Imange Jantjies (8) was brutally stabbed to death.

According to a trusted source close to George Herald, the boy's body was found locked up in the suspect's shack in Zone 7 with at least eight stab wounds to his neck.

The suspect appeared in the George Magistrate's Court on Monday 23 August where the case was postponed to tomorrow, Friday 27 August, in anticipation of the fingerprint report and bail profile.

According to Pojie, the couple turned up at the Thembalethu police office at about 18:30 with the disturbing allegations that the suspect had killed his girlfriend's son.

"Police members were immediately dispatched to the residence of the suspect, where the incident allegedly occurred. Upon entry of the residence situated in the informal settlement in Zone 7, members made the gruesome discovery of the boy who had already succumbed to multiple injuries to the body," he said. A knife that was found at the scene was handed in as evidence.

The suspect was arrested on the spot and faces a charge of murder.

"The circumstances of this senseless murder is being investigated and all efforts will be made to keep the suspect incarcerated for a very long time. Therefore Eden Cluster Commander, Maj-Gen Oswald Reddy has already instructed that bail must be opposed at all costs," said Pojie.

Southern Cape police spokesperson Capt Malcolm Pojie