Nine teenage boys have been arrested after a 16-year-old was killed in an alleged fight that broke out between hostel members in Welkom in the Free State.
Welkom Public Order Police Reaction Team (Anti-Gang Unit) members apprehended the suspects on Thursday after Ayabonga Nomana, who was stabbed repeatedly in the chest, succumbed to his injuries on Wednesday.
The boys are aged between 16 and 19. The arrests took place at about 4am on Thursday.
“The conflict emanated when a group of teenage boys from G-hostel and Moeletsi Hostel were fighting with boys from A-hostel in Constantia Road in the vicinity of A-hostel. Unfortunately, the deceased, 16-year-old Ayabonga Nomana of Moeletsi Hostel, succumbed to his injuries sustained during the fight,” said police spokesperson Col Thandi Mbambo.
“He sustained stab wounds to the chest and lacerations on the back and right arm. The deceased fell in Constantia Road next to A-Hostel.”
Mbambo said she did not believe the incident was gang-related, and said none of the boys belonged to gangs. She said police were still on the hunt for more suspects, and she believed their arrests were “imminent”.
The nine who have already been arrested were expected to appear in the Welkom magistrate's court on Friday on a murder charge.
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