MOSSEL BAY NEWS - Hours after the senseless killing of a 20-year old man, an 18-year old suspect was arrested by the KwaNonqaba Police.
On Wednesday night, 19 June, 20-year-old Showen Simons was stabbed twice in the back and once in the throat. He was attacked for no apparent reason by a group of men.
One of the friends who rushed Simons to the nearby KwaNonqaba Police Station was also stabbed in the back when the two of them were walking down a street. He, however, managed to escape the attackers who then turned on the victim.
The ambulance was called by the KwaNonqaba police at the station and despite every effort to save his life, Simons was declared deceased.
Angry community members reacted to the murder on Thursday morning, 20 June, demanding to know why there were no after hours medical emergency facilities in the greater KwaNonqaba area. Despite a clinic in Asla Park having been officially opened mere weeks before the recent national and provincial election, it was still not operational, they said.
"Most of us do not have transport; we need services here." Police had to contend with scores of people in the tiny community service centre at the KwaNonqaba Police Station and officers from neighbouring police stations were called on to assist.
Simon's family were at the police station shortly after the incident.
According to information received the stabbing may have been the result of increasing tension between opposing gangs in Elangeni and KwaNonqaba. The incident followed stabbing incidents among learners. Four learners from Indwe Secondary School were stabbed. The incidents took place in April, on 10 June and on 12 June.
"One of the remedies may be to deploy mediators in the area to assist the community to correctly handle the ongoing conflict," the commanding officer of the Da Gamaskop Police Cluster, Brig Gerhard Jantjies said.
The officer commanding the Da Gamaskop Police Cluster, Brig Gerhard Jantjies, and the officer commanding the KwaNonqaba Investigative Unit, Capt Ashley Michaels, in the community service centre in the KwaNonqaba Police Station. Sergeant Khan looks on from inside the charge office. Photo: Nickey le Roux
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