Riot Hlatshwayo

Riot Hlatshwayo

A 12-year-old boy is accused of stabbing a 15-year-old boy to death after the latter allegedly slapped him in Pienaar Trust, east of Nelspruit.

KaNyamazane police spokesman Captain Phillip Fakude said the older boy found the alleged killer playing in a car with his two friends and gave him a few smacks in the face .

"The younger boy took a knife that was in the car and stabbed his attacker once in the heart," Fakude said.

"The injured boy ran for about seven metres before he collapsed and died."

Fakude said after stabbing the older boy, the alleged killer hid in his aunt's house and locked the door out of fear that he might have killed a person.

"The boy's parents have passed away and he lives with his aunt," Fakude said.

The suspect is a grade 4 pupil at Mbengeni Primary School in Daantjie and the dead boy was in grade 7 at the Shishila Primary School in the neighbourhood.

Fakude said the boy was not immediately arrested because of this age and the fact that the local police station does not have facilities to accommodate children.

"We asked his aunt to bring him to the police station today."

Local police and prosecutors, had not decided when to take the suspect to court at the time of going to press.