BULAWAYO – A 16-year-old schoolboy from Founders High School in Bulawayo was knifed to death after confronting two other pupils from a neighbouring school for bullying his friend, police said.

Wayne Ndlovu, a Form 4 student, was stabbed on the neck and was pronounced dead on arrival at the United Bulawayo Hospitals.

Police have arrested two schoolboys from Hamilton High School for murder. Hamilton High, in Famona, and Founders High which is located in Southwold – a distance of about 3km – are both on Dundee Drive.

The incident took place on Monday at about 5PM at the corner of Plumtree Road and Stratford Road in Southwold.

Inspector Abednico Ncube of Bulawayo police said: “The now deceased was with his friends at the corner of Plumtree Road and Stratford Road in Southwold on their way from school.

“The now deceased approached one of the accused persons to enquire why he assaulted his friend. A fight ensued between the now deceased and the two accused persons.

“Other students attempted to stop the fight and the two accused persons ran away. One of the students observed that the now deceased was bleeding from the neck and the deceased stated that one of the accused persons stabbed him with an unknown object.

“They removed his blazer to cover the wound in order to stop bleeding. A police report was made but sadly the young man was pronounced dead upon arrival at the hospital.”

Ncube urged parents to observe their children closely in order to prevent similar tragedies.

“We urge students not to carry dangerous weapons like knives and catapults and to avoid fights,” he said. “We also urge parents to regularly search their children’s bags for dangerous weapons.”

Taungana Ndoro, the director of communications and advocacy in the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education said a collaboration was needed between guardians and schools to stop children from engaging in fights.

“We’ve a strict policy against gang violence. No gang-related incidents take place within our schools but unfortunately, some happen outside,” Ndoro said.

“We need a multi-sectoral approach to curbing gang-related violence in our society.”