Niamah Davids
24 November 2008
A Philippi mother has been left heartbroken after her 16-year-old only son was bludgeoned to death with an axe, allegedly for his involvement in a house break-in metres from his home.
On Sunday, Buyelwa Bunyonyo relived her shock and distress of the early hours of Saturday, when neighbours came rushing into her house in the Samora Machel settlement, saying her son Xola had been badly hurt.
"The neighbours came to wake me, they told me I must come quick, my son was hurt. But when I got there he was dead. Somebody had hit him with an axe," she said.
Police arrested a 24-year-old man at the scene. He is to appear in the Athlone magistrate's court today (Monday).
Bunyonyo said her son and two other boys had allegedly tried to burgle a house in the area, but when the owner of the house woke up, he got hold of Xola and repeatedly beat him with an axe.
"I am told they tried to break into the house around the corner. The people of the house heard and woke up. They said my son was involved, they hit him with the axe," she said on Sunday.
It is believed the two other youths who were with Xola fled the scene on foot.
"I am shattered. I feel like taking revenge on the one who did this to my son. I don't understand. I don't know why anyone would do a thing like this," she said.
Bunyonyo said the last time she saw her son alive was around 3pm on Friday.
When asked whether Xola was used to staying out till late at night, she said: "He was used to going to parties with his friends. He always asked if it was okay with me."
Bunyonyo described her son as a "good boy", adding that he always did his household chores and helped wherever he could.
"People around will agree he was a good child," she said.
Meanwhile, William Gingqini, the victim's uncle, said the family was battling to come to terms with what he described as a "vicious act".
Speaking to the Cape Argus on Sunday, Gingqini said the boy's parents are struggling financially, and had not yet made plans for the funeral.
"We are supposed to bury him in the next week, but right now we don't know how we will do that. There is no way forward yet," he said.
Gingqini described the boy as "good" but added that his family could not speak of the type of person he was outside his home.
"Inside the house he was a good boy, he always did as he was told. But we can't speak about his behaviour outside because we were not always with him," he said.
Police spokesperson Ntomboxolo Sitshitshi, on Sunday confirmed the incident.
But she said that Xola, along with two others, had robbed a man of his cellphone and cash and had then stabbed him in the arm.
The suspect, who cannot be named until he appears in court, had caught Xola and hit him.
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