Near-fatal spoon stabbing at school was an accident, says mom

A Grade 11 pupil who was stabbed with a spoon, allegedly by a fellow pupil, is out of ICU.

A peer, also in Grade 11, who appeared in the Butterworth magistrate’s court on an attempted murder charge, was granted R500 bail on Monday.

Conflicting reports have risen on what led to the incident at Vuluhlanga High School in Zangwa Village near Ndabakazi on Thursday.

Police said the youth was stabbed for his food. The department of education said the two, both 19, were teasing each other about the pilchards, veggies and pap that was served by the school nutrition programme on the day, and ended up fighting.

The school and a parent of the stabbed pupil said the two were “playing and teasing” each other with the spoons.

According to the department of education, the victim has a stab wound near his heart.

He was taken to the Butterworth hospital and later transferred to Frere Hospital in critical condition.

A police statement released on the weekend stated that the pupil who stabbed him wanted his plate of food.

On Monday Butterworth police spokesperson Jackson Manatha said the report came from their police investigation.

The department of education said their report came from their officer at the department’s rapid response unit in the district.

However, school principal Xolani Koko and the injured youth’s mother said there was no fight.

Speaking to the Dispatch, Koko said what happened between the two pupils – who are cousins – was an “accident”.

“The cousins were playing and pretending to be stabbing each other with the spoons when an accident happened,” said Koko. The spoon used was not sharpened, he added.

“It was a normal stainless steel spoon.”

The young man’s mother confirmed her son was out of ICU on Monday and recovering in the general ward.

She said when she asked her son about what happened he said they were playing.

The case has been postponed to June 26.

The cousins were playing and pretending to stab each other