Mahikeng - The 12-year-old Coligny boy who died after allegedly being caught stealing sunflowers broke his neck jumping off a moving bakkie, a local businessman said on Wednesday.
Pieter Karsten, 48, told News24 his nephew was one of the men arrested for the murder, which led to the protests breaking out in the North West farming town. Residents claimed the death was racially motivated.
Karsten said he had advised his nephew and another man to hand themselves over to police.
Police spokesperson Colonel Sabata Mokgwabone said the two men, aged 26 and 33, would appear in the Coligny Magistrate's Court on Friday.
"Before last week, no-one knew who this boy was," Karsten said in his empty garage. It was one of the businesses on the town's main road, Voortrekker Street, that was looted and damaged during protests this week.
"Who would hit a 12-year-old child? That's typical political propaganda, that's all that it is. Now the whole community is up in arms because of this boy's death. He died of a broken neck, not of being hit."