A 15-year-old boy who allegedly stabbed a six-year-old girl several times at a school in Umhlali on Tuesday may still pose a risk of violence, according to a former head of the South African Police Service’s Investigative Psychology Unit.
The teenager was arrested at the scene and remained in police custody at the latest update. The child suffered wounds to her chest, abdomen and arm and was taken to hospital for treatment.
The incident has raised renewed questions about the teenager’s conduct and whether the risk identified after an alleged incident involving an improvised explosive device at Ballito Junction mall in March had been properly assessed.
Dr Gérard Labuschagne, now a certified threat-assessment specialist, said he had warned in July that the teenager presented a potential mass-violence risk. He said an arrest or a police inquiry, by itself, would not necessarily address the underlying thoughts, grievances or fixations that could contribute to violent behaviour.
“Why would it have changed?” Labuschagne asked.
“He still most likely has the same thoughts and fixations. These people don’t get scared off. Clearly, a police investigation in the background didn’t stop him from attacking someone.”
The allegations against the teenager have not been tested in court. Because he is a minor, his identity is being withheld.
Girl attacked in classroom
The teenager allegedly entered a classroom at The Creative Classroom in Umhlali on Tuesday morning and attacked the six-year-old girl with a knife or another sharp object. The available information states that she was stabbed multiple times.
The child sustained injuries to her chest, abdomen and arm. She was rushed to hospital, but no further details about her condition were available.
The teenager was arrested at the scene and remained in police custody. Police have not released details about possible charges, the weapon allegedly used or the circumstances that led to the attack.
An image taken after the incident appeared to show the teenager wearing a black T-shirt with the word “wrath” in red. The clothing was said to resemble a shirt worn by one of the shooters involved in the 1999 Columbine school massacre in the United States.
The image and the alleged resemblance have formed part of wider concerns about the teenager’s alleged interest in previous mass-violence attacks. However, clothing alone does not establish motive or prove that a person intends to imitate a particular offender.
Earlier Ballito mall inquiry
The Hawks have opened an inquiry into the teenager’s conduct and are working with the Explosives Unit to determine whether a device allegedly placed at Ballito Junction was in fact a bomb.
Hawks spokesperson Lieutenant Simphiwe Mhlongo said:
“We can confirm that Hawks members from Durban Serious Organised Crime Investigation (Crimes Against the State) have opened an inquiry pertaining to the conduct of the minor. They are working together with the Explosives Unit in order to determine if the said explosive device was indeed a bomb.”
The alleged device was reportedly placed in the mall’s food court on 29 March. It did not explode, reportedly because of a construction fault, and the potential attack was therefore prevented.
The teenager was later arrested on 3 July after allegedly being seen at the mall again. He appeared at the KwaDukuza Regional Court, but the matter was not enrolled because of insufficient evidence. He was released after spending three days in custody.
Police had not confirmed whether the alleged device had been assessed by experts at the scene or what the results of any assessment were.
The new Hawks inquiry is intended to establish what the device was, who made it, how it was placed and whether any criminal offence was committed. Investigators will also examine other allegations about the teenager’s conduct.
Expert says arrest is not enough
Labuschagne said he was not surprised that the teenager had allegedly been involved in another violent incident, although he said he was shocked that the alleged victim was a young child.
He said an arrest did not necessarily address the grievances, fixations or suicidal thoughts that might lead a person towards targeted violence. He also said people who imitate well-known mass-violence offenders may seek to copy what others have done.
“This tells us there is a strong likelihood of risk for future violence, and this risk needs to be addressed. These people are often suicidal, so they are not worried about the consequences of their actions.”
Labuschagne had previously warned that the threat might not have ended after the alleged mall incident.
“Grievances last a long time in many cases – and can have added longevity if mental health issues are also at play. An arrest is a temporary risk reducer (literally only for the time of incarceration), but can also add more grievances to a person already prone to seeing the world in a way in which they feel they are persecuted unfairly by society.”
He said the legal threshold for prosecuting someone was different from the threshold for intervening when a person might pose a risk of mass violence.
“A person who expresses to a therapist that they have thoughts of harming others hasn’t committed a crime, but a violence risk assessment should be done to determine what future risk a person poses and how to mitigate it,” he said.
Labuschagne said a functioning system should have conducted a comprehensive violence-risk assessment after the earlier allegations. That assessment, he said, should have considered the level of concern, likely scenarios and measures to prevent those scenarios from occurring.
Alleged manifesto examined
Before the Ballito Junction incident, the teenager allegedly shared a graphic manifesto on the Telegram messaging platform. The document reportedly referred to mass killers, revenge and a desire to be remembered, as well as alleged experiences of bullying, online abuse and family difficulties.
The manifesto also allegedly contained references to misanthropy, racism, nihilism and other extremist ideas. Labuschagne said the material displayed warning signs associated with targeted violence, including a negative view of the world, a sense of rejection and the use of ideology to justify harm.
The contents of the alleged document have not been independently tested in court. Its existence, authorship and meaning will form part of the Hawks investigation.
The teenager had also allegedly written about earlier incidents, including an attempted stabbing of another pupil in 2024 and a pepper-spray incident at a different Ballito mall in March, shortly before the alleged device was placed at Ballito Junction.
None of those allegations has been established in a criminal conviction.
Investigation continues
The current school stabbing case and the earlier Ballito inquiry are separate legal matters, although investigators are examining whether they are connected through the teenager’s conduct.
The Hawks and Explosives Unit must determine whether the device was a functioning explosive, an imitation device or something else. Police must also investigate the alleged stabbing at the school and establish the circumstances surrounding the child’s injuries.
The teenager remains in custody following Tuesday’s incident. Details about his next court appearance, the charges he may face and the child’s condition had not been released.
The case has prompted renewed debate about how authorities should respond when a young person is alleged to express violent fixations or show an interest in mass-casualty attacks, particularly when there is insufficient evidence for an immediate prosecution.
For now, police investigations are continuing, the six-year-old girl is receiving medical care and the teenager faces allegations that have not yet been tested in court.