nokulunga ngobese >>nokulungan@myecho.co.za in just a month since schools have re­opened in the prov­ ince, violence seems to be on the rife with separate stab­ bing incidents at mehlokazulu and kwamncane high schools recently. at mehlokazulu, it is alleged that a group of pupils who had been involved in faction fighting in their areas took the fight school. saps spokesperson, captain thu­ lani zwane, said that a 19­ year­old victim was stabbed on the school premises during lunch break. “two suspects, mthobisi shezi (18) and sbongiseni shezi (23), appeared in the magis­ trate’s court last monday . the situation is under police control at this stage,” he said. in a similar incident, a 24­ year old man was stabbed in his back on wednesday, fol­ lowing an argument between two pupils from kwamncane high school. a pupil, who did not want to be identified, said the two pupils had been drinking, and started fighting. during school break, the one went out and came back with knives that had been hidden in the bush­ es. several boys who were not students also showed up, and lured a group of pupils outside the school premises, where one of them was stabbed. zwane said their de­ tectives are investigating the incident. he said a case of assault had been opened and that a 24­year­old man was stabbed in his back by the suspect. “the incident took place outside the school premises and the victim is not a pupil. no arrests have been made,” he said. kwazulu natal department of educa­ tion spokesperson sihle mlot­ shwa said “this is a societal problem which extends to our schools.we ask societies to ensure that our communities are safe and free from vio­ lence. if we can tackle this is­ sue at a societal level, we will not find this problem at our schools. we urge all stake­ holders including parents, to work with the department in curbing these incidents.”