Cape Town - Chaos broke out at a taxi rank in Mitchells Plain on Wednesday after a teenage boy was stabbed to death, allegedly by a taxi driver who accused him of stealing a cell phone.
Fifteen-year-old Nathaniel Daniels was stabbed multiple times in his upper body after being suspected of theft from a taxi he washed near the 7th Avenue taxi rank.
Charmaine Daniels, the 58-year-old grandmother of Nathaniel, said her grandson was used to taking items in Town Centre, and was likely under the watch of the drivers for a while.
“He was naughty as he took things, but according to his mother, his mind wasn’t like that on Wednesday.
“They kept him under surveillance, that he is at the centre every day and he takes stuff,” she said.
According to Daniels, one of Nathaniel’s friends notified them of the stabbing.
“He started crying and he told us about it. I couldn’t go to the scene because I couldn’t handle seeing him lying there. I will remember him as my grandson,” she said.
Pictures and videos of Nathaniel’s lifeless body circulated in crime WhatsApp groups shortly after the incident.
A source said that Nathaniel was still alive for approximately 10 minutes, and the ambulance arrived 45 minutes later.
“The police said we must phone the ambulance, the child was laying like that for 10 minutes still alive,” the source said.
A clash between a group of people and some of the drivers broke out, and the source claimed that police allegedly let the suspect go.
A video circulating on social media shows people running in every direction as police allegedly fired rubber bullets and stun grenades to disperse the ground.
“They started shooting at the community because after this they were angry. Police saw that the one guy had a knife,” the source claimed.
Police spokesperson, Wesley Twigg, said a murder case was being investigated.
“Mitchells Plain police registered a murder case for investigation following a stabbing incident in 4th Avenue, Mitchell's Plain, where a 15-year-old boy was stabbed to death,” Twigg said.
“Police members were called to the crime scene where they found the victim with a stab wound to his body. The victim was declared deceased on the scene by medical personnel.”
Twigg said no suspects have been arrested, and the circumstances surrounding the incident were being investigated.
A heartbroken Daniels added: “I would just like justice for a 15-year-old child who was killed like this. He was just a child, we just want justice.”
Police have urged anyone with any information to contact Crime Stop at 08600 10111.