14-year-old North West teen’s body found in Vryburg cemetery

A body of a 14-year-old Vryburg secondary school learner has been found at a cemetery at Huhudu township at Vryburg, in the North West. Sedika Lekhobo’s body was found on Sunday.

The North West Department of Education has sent condolences to the Grade 9 learner’s family.

Departmental spokesperson Elias Malindi says, “The North West Department of Education is devastated by the death of a Vryburg secondary learner whose body was found nearby the cemetery of Vryburg in Dr Ruth Segomotsi Mompati. The gender-based violence (GBV) is very rife within our communities.”

The North West police at Vryburg have opened an inquest docket.

Police spokesperson Captain Aafje Botma says a post mortem report will determine whether or not the case might be changed to murder.

“At this stage, we are waiting for the post mortem, so an inquest was opened. We are waiting for the result of a post mortem. The post mortem can be either done today [Tuesday] or tomorrow [Wednesday] and all depending on the outcome of the post mortem, the charge can be changed,” says Botma.

Meanwhile, the body of a 55-year-old security guard has been discovered at a school in Palmview in Phoenix in Durban at the weekend.

It is believed that he was bound with a belt and suffered multiple injuries to his chest and head.

Glen Naidoo of KZN VIP Security says, “It was found that the school was broken into and a lot of items stolen. Since the guard could not be found, a thorough search was done. Preliminary search and then a thorough search again and eventually found the security guard lying in the toilet with blood and we suspecting stab wounds. We cordoned it off, called the SAPS and then handed over the crime scene to them,” says Naidoo.

In the 2021 video below, organisations including Save the Children have condemned the vandalism of schools: