The tragic death of two oSizweni teenagers has left a gaping hole in the hearts of their families and friends.
The two 15-year-old boys were stabbed on November 5, at their school.
The teens allegedly had an argument with a 12-year-old boy, who left the school premises, returned with a knife and stabbed both boys in the chest.
While investigations into the double murder are under way, the community is still coming to terms with the tragedy.
Last Thursday, the Amajuba District Municipality held a memorial service at oSizweni High School in honour of the two boys.
The municipality voiced its dismay at the horrendous murders and passed on its condolences to family members.
Peggy Nkonyeni, KwaZulu-Natal MEC for Education attended the memorial service and offered her condolences.
“It is with deep sadness that we gather here to pay our last tribute to our children, during what one can describe as a freak incident that led to their untimely and painful death,” she said.
Ms Nkonyeni said when she had heard the tragic news, she was left with a sense of numbness.
“We were consumed with grief when we heard the news, as we were still trying to recover from a similar incident where a pupil from a school in Empangeni was also stabbed to death.”
With the tragic deaths, Ms Nkonyeni was adamant that school violence should be ended.
“This year alone, we have witnessed a number of similar incidents in our schools and this must be brought to an end. We are a department that is entrusted with the responsibility to ensure our children have a fighting chance in life. We are mandated to sharpen and skill our pupils so they can become productive members of society, who contribute to the betterment of the lives of the families, as wells as contribute to the skills of our economy. We are not supposed to be a slaughter house, where our children meet with a brutal and untimely death,” she added.
With limited resources, the Department of Education is allegedly doing everything in its power to deploy security guards at schools, where departmental budgets allowed.
“Our last solution will come when we all work together and start a united front against the problem of school violence. The department has a national school safety framework that aims to deal with this scourge,” she concluded.
