A star athlete of Lowveld High School fell victim to a stabbing on Tuesday while apparently trying to assist a Gr 8 learner who was being bullied.

The victim’s identity is known to Lowvelder but he cannot be named.

The paper was first made aware of the incident by a friend of the victim, who wished to remain anonymous.

According to her, the incident occurred about 20 minutes into breaktime when the Gr 8 who was allegedly being bullied by two boys – both in higher grades – requested help from the victim.

It is believed the victim approached the two boys, who allegedly turned on him. After throwing several punches, they allegedly threw him to the ground, pulled out a pair of scissors and stabbed him on various places over his body, including on his back and in his face.

The source reported the incident to the necessary authoritative bodies at the school, after which they proceeded to call all of the involved parties’ parents. The SAPS arrived at the school about 30 to 40 minutes afterwards. The victim was taken to hospital where he received stitches and was later discharged.

His athletics career is still uncertain. He was set to compete in the Mpumalanga Athletics Championships in Secunda this weekend and, according to the source, the victim hopes the swelling goes down in time for this.

The victim’s parents did not want to engage with the media at this time.

Jasper Zwane, the Mpumalanga Department of Education’s spokesperson, said the department has requested a report from the district offices and will determine the course of action. “We condemn any form of violence in schools, and any learner who is involved will be dealt with according to the school’s code of conduct.”

Learners of the school have since took it upon themselves to do something about the two accused, as they feel that these two individuals have been in the school’s bad books for a number of reasons, but that nothing has been done about the situation to this day. An online petition is doing the rounds to have both of them expelled, and has already garnered almost 2 000 signatures.