Johannesburg -
Two Bekkersdal pupils were left fuming after police officers conducting a raid at Simunye Secondary School forcefully shaved off their dreadlocks on Tuesday.
This occurred shortly after it was alleged the pair had smuggled in drugs in their hair.
”Their hair was given back to them after nothing was found,” said police spokesman Lieutenant-Colonel Lungelo Dlamini. “However, two pupils were arrested on Monday and Tuesday after they were found in possession of knives.”
He said the two pupils were released into the custody of their parents.
Dlamini said the raids came as police maintained high visibility in the area after a number of violent, gang-related incidents were reported.
He said it was alleged some pupils were associated with the Calabash and Creatures gangs.
Paulos Magaringa, a Creatures member, was hacked, stoned, stabbed and set alight by alleged members of the rival Calabash gang on Friday night. His eyes were also gouged out.
His friend, Thabang Ramaokane, suffered serious injuries and is in hospital.
Dlamini said police were following several leads.
“People have come forward with names of the possible suspects. We are working around it to arrest lead suspects. However, we haven’t made any arrests.”
On Tuesday afternoon, Magaringa’s mother, Olga Bilankulu, described her son’s death as brutal and cruel.
“No one deserved to die the way my son was killed. What happened to him was not nice. It will never be well with my soul… He was killed like a dog,” she said, breaking into tears.
“I have accepted that he is gone. No one, or nothing, will bring his life back. It is painful for us but God will answer,” said Bilankulu.
Magaringa was the eldest of four children.
His brother Joshua said a friend of his came to tell him something had happened to his sibling.
Joshua said he and the friend hid for 15 minutes before plucking up the courage to go to the crime scene.
“Someone told me that my brother had been killed. We went to check if it was indeed him, it was really bad,” said Joshua.
A resident said the Spooktown informal settlement was living in fear.
“We don’t sleep at night. We are afraid of these boys as we really don’t know what might happen to us.”
Another resident told DA Gauteng premier candidate Mmusi Maimane the situation needed immediate attention.
The man was at the police station when Maimane arrived on Tuesday morning to open criminal cases against the ANC and its former councillor, Nelson Mdayi, for contravening the Firearms Control Act.
The Star