It was bound to come to a violent and tragic ending, and so it did in the Pretoria township of Refilwe.
On Tuesday, ‘spring has sprung’ took a new deadly meaning in South Africa as a 53-year-old man, enraged by being poured with bucket loads of water, pulled out a knife and stabbed 21-year-old Tshepang Nyathi in apparent retaliation.
For millions across the country, ‘spring has sprung’ was about enjoying the first bouts of sunlight and greenery and birds whistling, but in townships across Gauteng, young adults, teenagers and children, had a different spring on their step.
The Deadly Cost of a “Spring Has Sprung” Tradition
They ‘sprung’ into action hellbent on acting as a violent mob, assaulting adults with bucket loads of water. Taxi drivers, delivery drivers, bus drivers, passerbys on their way to work or those returning from school, no one was spared.
Those who objected to being splashed were violently splashed regardless, videos showed, and those who tried to stand up to the violent mob were equally met with aggression by the “children”, who were not afraid to assault adults with their hands, feet and buckets.
Some “children” in uniform even dared adults who tried to confront them. And the whole thing is a humiliation ritual. There are participants armed with water and buckets, and others whose sole role is to document and spread the humiliation on social media.
Image: Screenshot
In other words, the actions are deliberate, premeditated and are akin to organised terror.
The death of any person in such circumstances is of course a tragic and sad occasion. But it is difficult to say Rest In Peace Tshepang Nyathi, who was reportedly stabbed to death by his neighbour.
And this is not because Tshepang Nyathi deserved to die, but it is because Tshepang Nyathi now embodies and represents a picture or the face of a violent mob of young people, who were determined to inflict nothing but pain, humiliation and embarrassment towards adults.
Unfortunately, Tshepang Nyathi has become the face of ill-disciplined young people who were terrorizing fellow community members.
They were relentless and no one could stop them.
A Tragic Death and the Question of Youth Discipline
Speaking to Newzroom Afrika, community leader Mpho Sehalahala, said the general mood of the Refilwe community was that people were angry “in as much as it’s not okay for people to be splashed with water, but it cannot be justified that you have a grown 53 year old man that will go and stab a 21 year old”.
“You as a parent, we expected you to provide leadership to the next generation…,” she said.
Sehalahala also revealed that the 53-year-old alleged stabber, had been splashed with condoms filled with water. She claimed Tshepang Nyathi did not splash the old man, now a murder suspect, with water.
“I don’t know how we justify a grown adult pulling out a knife on a 20 year old and subsequently stabbing them straight to their heart,” she said.
One wonders where the community leaders were prior and what leadership they showed to try and bring to a halt the behaviour of the violent mob of young people, including young adults, teenagers and children.
The death by retaliation is of course unfortunate, but parents throughout the province, need to have a long hard look at themselves and the type of children they are bringing up.
South Africa already has a massive violence problem, go look at the latest quarterly crime statistics in respect of contact crimes including common assault, assault with intent to cause grievous bodily harm, attempted murder and murder, then also look at the gender-based violence and femicide related statistics.
If young people cannot grasp the basic tenets of consent – forcing adults to partake in a game they did not sign up for, what hope do we have when we look at our alarming sexual assault, sexual harassment and rape statistics.
It is a crying shame that Tshepang Nyathi had to die, but it remains difficult to say, Rest In Peace Tshepang Nyathi.
Teach children about consent
We need to do better as a people. I recently watched a video of Miss South Africa Qhawe Mazaleni, who spent an entire day running a reading clinic with young children in Alexandra township.
At the end of their workshop, the 2026 Miss SA agreed to partake in the water splashing ritual, and the young children poured heaps of water on her, leaving her soaked and the children wide-eyed and excited.
But the fundamental difference here is that she consented and agreed to be splashed – she was a willing participant.
Young people need to learn about the concept of consequence management, and like in chemistry, every action has a reaction.
Our governments and corporates also need to find space to create jobs and activities for young people, it is a travesty that young people at the age of 21 are running around with buckets of water splashing people when they should be in school, university, working and participating in the economy or the development of self.
It is befitting for 12-year-olds to be engaged in such behaviour, among themselves and consenting participants.
