TWO teenage boys have admitted to killing two of their school mates in a botched "Satanic baptism ritual".

The two, aged 16 and 17, pleaded guilty this week in the Johannesburg High Court sitting in the Palm Ridge Magistrate's Court to murdering Thandeka Mokganetsi, 14, and Chwayita Ratazwayo, 15, who both attended George Khoza Secondary School in Soweto with them.

The girls' bodies were found in a field near Dobsonville, Soweto, in February last year. They were wearing their school uniforms and had deep incisions on their throats and bodies.

In their plea explanations, the boys said the two girls had asked to join Satanism and they killed the girls during their initiation.

"I admit that it was around 5pm in the afternoon that accused two, deceased one [Mokganetsi], deceased two [Ratazwayo] and I arrived at the place in Dobsonville, Soweto, to perform the baptism ritual of [Mokganetsi and Ratazwayo] into the Satanic religion at [their] request," the 16-year-old boy said.

The boys said they had brought razors and candles to perform the ritual. ". [T]he candles were placed in the position of a six point star and we, accused two and myself, told [Mokganetsi and Ratazwayo] to kneel down and face opposite directions from each other, which they did."

According to the boys' plea explanations, they both recited prayers and read from the "dark kingdom bible".

".[Mokganetsi] cut herself and wrote with her index finger and her own blood on a piece of paper, which she folded and then burnt.

"It was now time for [Ratazwayo] to do the ritual and [she] decided not to continue," the boy said.

He said he then stabbed Mokganetsi with a knife several times.

In his plea, the second boy also admitted to stabbing Ratazwayo to death after she decided not to continue with the ritual.

The boys said after killing the girls, they burnt their school shirts and went to a "witch doctor" to whom they confessed.

"We asked him for his help and protection from detection . he charged us R100," the boys said.

The court accepted their plea and postponed the case to next month for sentencing proceedings to start.

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