Father Arrested for Allegedly Murdering Son with Sjambok Over Bank Card Use in Eastern Cape

• An elderly man was arrested for allegedly murdering his 14-year-old son in the Eastern Cape
• It is alleged that the Incident followed a dispute over the son's unauthorised use of his father's bank card
• The father faces a murder charge after he allegedly assaulted and confined his son overnight

Justin Williams, a journalist at Briefly News since 2024, covers South Africa’s current affairs. Before joining Briefly News, he served as a writer and chief editor at Right for Education Africa’s South African chapter.

NGQELENI, EASTERN CAPE - Police in the Eastern Cape have arrested an elderly man from Ngojini in the Ngqeleni area for the alleged murder of his 14-year-old son.

Murder of 14-year-old son

According to police, the incident followed an argument after the teenager used his father’s bank card without permission. Eastern Cape police spokesperson Brigadier Nobuntu Gantana stated that officers were called to the scene on Tuesday morning, 6 January 2026.

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Investigators allege that the assault occurred on Monday night, 5 January 2026, at about 10 pm, when the father struck the boy with a sjambok and a stick. Police further allege that he tied the teenager with a rope and confined him inside the house throughout the night.

Child took his father’s bank card

The boy was discovered dead at approximately 4 am on Tuesday, 6 January 2026. Police believe the attack was triggered after the child took his father’s bank card and used it to buy items at a local spaza shop.

Ngqeleni police arrested the suspect, who is due to appear before the Ngqeleni Magistrate’s Court on Wednesday, 7 January 2026, facing a charge of murder. The Acting Provincial Commissioner of the Eastern Cape, Major General Thandiswa Kupiso, has condemned the killing.

Other murder-related stories

Free State Police said a gang-related confrontation claimed the life of a 19-year-old man from Freedom Square, an informal settlement near Bloemfontein, after a greeting was allegedly misinterpreted. According to police, the young man was standing outside his home when members of a local gang approached him. The suspects allegedly used a hand gesture associated with a gang to greet him. When he responded, they reportedly took his reply as an indication that he belonged to a rival gang.

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Growing concern over violence in schools has spread across South Africa following a stabbing incident involving learners at a high school in Alice, Eastern Cape. On 21 August 2025, two learners allegedly attacked a Grade 9 pupil with scissors at Enkwenkwezini Senior Secondary School, located in the Amathole West Education District. School staff intervened immediately, assisted the injured pupil, and alerted his parents before contacting the South African Police Service. The incident has intensified public anxiety about learner-on-learner violence in schools.

Police exhumed the body of a 16-year-old girl from a shallow grave in Pudimoe, near Taung in the North West, on Saturday, 11 January 2025. Preliminary investigations revealed that the teenager, who has since been identified, was violently murdered before being buried.

Source: Briefly News