CAPE ARGUS

January 18, 2005

Cape Town, South Africa

Beaten to death by classmate

by Johan Schronen

A Bothasig schoolboy has been beaten to death by a classmate after gang rivalry turned ugly.

The dead boy, Bosmansdam High School Grade 9 pupil Chad Rowley, 15, collapsed after apparently being viciously attacked by a boy from a rival gang which had long threatened to kill him.

Rowley, who preferred cooking to fighting, was one of a group in Richmond who jokingly dubbed themselves the Tupperware Gang.

His alleged attacker was a member of a group of boys called the Hak Unit.

The fight started last Thursday as Rowley sat in a neighbourhood park with two friends.

A Hak Unit member approached them in the dark.

One of Rowley's friends, Andre Niewenhuys, said the other boy demanded R1. When Rowley refused, a vicious fight broke out.

Niewenhuys said Rowley and the other boy ended up fighting on the ground. "They really climbed into each other, hitting each other on the head, in the face and in the ribs."

He said the boy then ran across the road to the home of one of his friends, apparently to fetch help.

"Chad was getting up when we saw the boy and some friends return with batons and whips. The mother of one of the boys was with them."

Niewenhuys said something was "not right" with Rowley.

"When he stood up he started swaying and then collapsed. We stopped the boys from whipping Chad because we could all see there was a serious problem with him.

"He wasn't breathing but he still had a pulse," he said.

The boys called for help and a neighbour loaded the limp Rowley into a bakkie, first drove to his house, but then rushed him straight to Milnerton Medi-Clinic.

Rowley's brother, Micarl, 16, was with him on the back of the bakkie, trying to wake him as they sped to the hospital.

Micarl said he had held his brother and talked to him, hoping he would come around.

"Halfway to the hospital, Chad briefly opened his eyes and tried to lift his head, but then he just flopped down and his eyes rolled back," he said.

Chad's parents, Peter and Jessie Rowley, were devastated.

"Chad was a strong, healthy boy. Rugby was his passion and he did well at it.

"He was a homely child, he loved to bake and cook and dreamt of becoming a chef one day," Mrs Rowley said. "Nothing is going to bring my boy back. It won't help being angry but there is a much bigger picture of gang and drug culture being ignored at the school."

She believed her son's death could have been prevented if the teachers had listened to parents.

"Now it's too late, but perhaps now the authorities will look into the problem. I hope Chad's death will save the lives of others. Someone must stop the terror at Bosmansdam," she said.

Bosmansdam principal Danie Human said: "I am not aware of a gang culture in my school, but I don't condone fighting of any sort."

Rowley Registry Data

Contributed by Barbara Grenier