A pupil in the North West is fighting for her life in hospital after being stabbed at President Mangope High School in Tlhabane on Wednesday morning.
Provincial police spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Amanda Funani said the girl, 13, was found unconscious and lying in a pool of blood in the school toilet.
"A group of pupils were going to the girls' toilet around 10:30 when they made the shocking discovery. They found their fellow pupil lying unconscious in a pool of blood. The pupil was stabbed in the stomach," she said.
Funani said it was not known when exactly the Grade 8 pupil was stabbed, but police investigators suspect that she could have been attacked between 10:00 and 10:30.
She added that upon making the discovery, the group of pupils quickly alerted their teachers who summoned both the police and paramedics. The injured girl was then rushed to a local hospital.
Funani said no one had been arrested yet and police were investigating a case of assault with the intent to cause grievous bodily harm.
Police have appealed to anyone with information that could lead to the arrest of any suspects to come forward.
This is the second stabbing at a school in the North West in less than four weeks.
On February 26 a pupil, 13, was arrested after he allegedly used a pair of scissors to stab a classmate, 14, to death.
The incident took place at Mateane Primary School in Diretsane.
It is alleged that the teen stabbed his classmate in the chest after trying to separate two other boys who were fighting.
On Wednesday, Mondeor High School Grade 11 pupil Kulani Mathebula was stabbed to death when at least three suspects attacked him near the school. He died on the scene.
Three suspects – aged between 13 and 15 – were arrested within 24 hours.
The 13-year-old appeared in court on Thursday while two 15-year-olds are expected in court on Friday.
