Many questions after 12-year-old is shot dead

Shock and grief have engulfed the community of Maniini outside Thohoyandou. This follows the alleged shooting to death of a 12-year-old boy from the village by his 10-year-old friend.

Gundo Mamatho, a Grade 5 pupil at Maniini Primary, was shot dead at the friend’s home while his younger friend was allegedly playing with an illegal firearm. The incident happened last Friday afternoon, after Gundu and his friends had come from school.

During the incident, Gundo was shot in the head and was taken to a local hospital where he was certified dead while doctors were treating him.

It is alleged the 10-year-old had invited the other boys to his home and told them he wanted to show them something. He then showed them a firearm, hidden in the soil under a tree. It is further alleged that the boy then went to the toilet, where he cocked the firearm.

Eyewitness Unarine Khomola, who is also in the same grade as Gundo, said Gundo wanted to use the toilet where the 10-year-old was holding the gun. “Suddenly, a shot went off and hit Gundo in the head. We ran away and I came back home and informed my mother."

Gundo’s father, Mr Rector Mamatho, said he was in town when he received a call that he should rush to the hospital. “I was not even told what had happened, but on reaching the hospital, I found that the doctor was busy treating him. I saw he had a head wound and, after a while, the doctor told me to wait outside. After some few minutes outside, we were called to a room where we were told the sad news."

According to the shocked father, he is devastated and "it feels like a part of me has been taken out of me. We were still awaiting so many things from this boy. He was very bright and dedicated to his school work,” said Mamatho.

He further said that what made the case more painful was how the small boy got hold of a firearm and how he could have known how to operate it. “Our children are no longer safe if children as young as 10 can possess a gun."

He thanked the community for their support during the tragedy. "As a family, the tragedy came when we were least prepared. I am no longer working and we do not even know how we are going to bury him," he said.

Civic leader Mr Londani Makhuvha, who visited the family, said he was shocked there were still people in the community with illegal firearms. “We abhor the whole incident. We are totally against any form of criminality in our area and this is the reason we started bicycle patrols in the area, which decreased crime immensely. We will see to it that we speak about these things during our meetings and come up with a solution,” he said.

Thohoyandou police spokesperson Major Mashudu Malelo confirmed the incident, saying they had confiscated a firearm. “The origin and ownership of the firearm is not known at this stage. We have circulated the gun, but the results came back negative as the gun is not in our systems. We now strongly believe the gun is illegal and was smuggled into the country," he added.

He also said that they had since handed the firearm to their forensic investigators. "We hope we will be able to find the owner and whether the gun was used to commit other crimes,” he said. Malelo further indicated that the 10-year-old was not locked up in the police cells as he was a minor. “He is with social workers and they are still assessing what the next step is to take."

Gundo will be buried in the Maniini cemetery today (Friday).

Date:25 January 2016

By: Elmon Tshikhudo

Elmon Tshikhudo started off as a photographer. He developed an interest in writing and started submitting articles to local as well as national publications. He became part of the Limpopo Mirror family in 2005 and was a permanent part of the news team until 2019.

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