EFF provincial secretary to bury his son after mob attack on Christmas day

04 January 2017 - 14:45 By Petru Saal
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Economic Freedom Fighters Northern Cape provincial secretary George Nyakama is planning to bury his teenage son Alfonso “Alfie” Arends this weekend after he was brutally attacked on Christmas morning by a group of 40 men.

Image: iStock

On Christmas eve‚ the 17-year-old attended a party with his aunt at Bloemhof in the North West. An altercation between him and a friend broke out at 5am. The matter was resolved shortly afterwards. But upon leaving the party with three of his friends‚ a large group of men decided to take the matter further and started hurling stones and beer crates at Alfie and his friends.

Two of the friends managed to escape but the group chased down Alfie and one other person‚ focusing on throwing objects at Alfie. The pair split up in a bid to escape and Alfie jumped into a nearby property and climbed onto the roof of a house.

By this time‚ Nyakama said‚ the crowd had surrounded the house and continued pelting Alfie with stones until he eventually fell off the roof. Alfie‚ left seriously injured‚ was taken to hospital in Klerksdorp. He sustained mostly head injuries and died less than a week after the attack.

Nyakama’s mother is finding it particularly hard to cope with her grandson's death as he had been visiting her for the Christmas weekend. Alfie was raised by her and Nyakama.

“His mom abandoned him when he was six-months [old]. He was loved by the entire family and will be sorely missed. I not only lost a son but a best friend and brother. That is how close we were‚” said Nyakama.

He described Alfie as a quiet boy but not shy. He regularly attended EFF rallies with his father‚ especially during last year’s municipal elections.

Nyakama said that he had a hard time keeping Alfie in school because he wanted to attend rallies‚ campaigns and functions.

Commenting on a possible motive for the attack‚ Nyakama said‚ “Some people believe it’s politically motivated but not me and others say it’s because he [Alfie] owed R600 to the people who attacked him. There is no definite reason why my son was killed”.

Nyakama said he was disappointed at the way police had handled the case. After laying a complaint of murder‚ he said that police had not visited the house nor informed him who the investigating officer was. “There has been no communication from their side whatsoever.”

- TMG Digital

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