The province's education department says Matefo Mphosela was attacked and stabbed at her house at around 9pm.

The 20-year-old male suspect is a pupil at Kagisano Combined School where Mphosela worked as a teacher.

Free State education department spokesperson Howard Ndaba says the teacher had academically adopted the pupil to assist with school work.

"We don't know how the learner ended up at the teacher's house, but we are hoping the police will be able to establish that. But that is a small community, easy to move around, and the teacher and the learner come from the same township which is very small.

“But another element is that the teacher had academically adopted this learner to assist him, the boy performed very well in his September results," says Ndaba.

Ndaba says the school principal Nameng Sehloho described the teacher as hard-working and committed.

Meanwhile, the Free State police spokesperson Thabo Covane says the police arrived on the scene and found the teacher already in an ambulance.

"A patrol vehicle was dispatched to attend and on arrival at the scene the 35-year-old female who is said to be a teacher was already in the ambulance ready to depart for Pelonomi Hospital. According to medical reports, the victim died on the way to the hospital. The deceased had one stab wound on the left side of the upper body," says Covane.

Jacaranda FM