Gun-wielding man arrested for 'kicking, stomping on teen' in Limpopo

The incident, outside a shop that sells hot food, allegedly happened on Wednesday evening — on the eve of Youth Day.

Police spokesperson Brig Motlafela Mojapelo said: “The other shoppers watched helplessly as the suspect assaulted the boy until he eventually left him lying on the ground.”

The victim was taken to hospital for medical treatment.

“Following the incident, cases of assault with intent to cause grievous bodily harm and pointing of a firearm were opened,” said Mojapelo.

“The suspect was arrested today, June 16, at about 10am following an intensive investigation by the local police.”

He will appear before the Groblersdal magistrate's court on Friday facing charges of assault with intent to do grievous bodily harm and pointing of a firearm.

A police source from the area told TimesLIVE the incident took place outside a “shop that sells fat cakes at the Game Centre”.

“From what we understand the boy and the man ... became involved in an altercation after the boy knocked over a salt pot in the shop.” The source said EFF members had started arriving and there were fears that protests would flare up.

The victim’s mother, who is not being named to shield the identify of her son, told Newzroom Afrika she did not know the full extent of her 16-year old son’s injuries.

“My son is complaining about chest pains and his whole body is painful,” she told Xoli Mngambi at the broadcaster.

“The reason my son was assaulted was the salt at another shop that sells [hot] chips. They wanted to use the salt but the white man was using it. The man did not want to give them the salt,” she said. The situation quickly turned violent with a firearm being drawn.

TimesLIVE