Reports by Tebogo Monama
Reports by Tebogo Monama
The Krugersdorp high school boy who was arrested for the fatal sword attack on a fellow pupil and five of his friends were plotting a massacre at the school.
This revelation comes from video footage discovered on Monday after the incident. It has led to the arrest of a second boy at the school.
The video shows the teenagers dressed as ninjas and brandishing samurai swords.
The other pupils apparently chickened out but an 18-year-old pupil at the Nic Diederichs Technical School slashed Jacques Pretorius to death.
Education department officials yesterday refused to comment, saying they were investigating the matter and the police were analysing the video.
Pretorius, 16, a grade 9 pupil, was killed with a samurai sword on the school grounds on Monday.
A pupil at the school said: "He [the alleged killer] said he wanted to carry out a massacre. We thought that he was joking because he had said this before. We did not think he would do it."
The Grade 12 "sword slayer" is expected to appear in the Krugersdorp magistrate's court on murder and attempted murder charges.
Gauteng education MEC Angie Motshekga said: "We are not sure whether the pupil's parents will apply for bail or not. If he is granted bail we will have to seek alternatives. We want pupils at the school to feel safe so we will talk to our schools about safety."
Yesterday pupils and parents lay wreaths and wrote messages for Jacques at the school gate.
Pupils also received counselling.
Hennie Stapelberg, a pupil at the school, said: "This is actually a very good school. Only registered pupils can enter the school. We use our fingerprints to go through a revolving security gate.
"The guy who did this was a normal pupil at school. He neither dressed weird nor acted strange. He was a great guy."
Motshekga said: "We want to understand what went wrong. We also have to support the two families of the victims.
"The story we got is that two pupils were late for assembly and when they got to the school hall they were attacked by the suspect.
"The report from his mother is that she usually drops both her sons at school but on the day the suspect left home early."
Motshekga was scheduled to meet the two families yesterday but was unable to since the parents were too distressed to meet people.
VIDEO SHOWS NINJAS BRANDISHING SWORDS
Reports by Tebogo Monama
Reports by Tebogo Monama
The Krugersdorp high school boy who was arrested for the fatal sword attack on a fellow pupil and five of his friends were plotting a massacre at the school.
This revelation comes from video footage discovered on Monday after the incident. It has led to the arrest of a second boy at the school.
The video shows the teenagers dressed as ninjas and brandishing samurai swords.
The other pupils apparently chickened out but an 18-year-old pupil at the Nic Diederichs Technical School slashed Jacques Pretorius to death.
Education department officials yesterday refused to comment, saying they were investigating the matter and the police were analysing the video.
Pretorius, 16, a grade 9 pupil, was killed with a samurai sword on the school grounds on Monday.
A pupil at the school said: "He [the alleged killer] said he wanted to carry out a massacre. We thought that he was joking because he had said this before. We did not think he would do it."
The Grade 12 "sword slayer" is expected to appear in the Krugersdorp magistrate's court on murder and attempted murder charges.
Gauteng education MEC Angie Motshekga said: "We are not sure whether the pupil's parents will apply for bail or not. If he is granted bail we will have to seek alternatives. We want pupils at the school to feel safe so we will talk to our schools about safety."
Yesterday pupils and parents lay wreaths and wrote messages for Jacques at the school gate.
Pupils also received counselling.
Hennie Stapelberg, a pupil at the school, said: "This is actually a very good school. Only registered pupils can enter the school. We use our fingerprints to go through a revolving security gate.
"The guy who did this was a normal pupil at school. He neither dressed weird nor acted strange. He was a great guy."
Motshekga said: "We want to understand what went wrong. We also have to support the two families of the victims.
"The story we got is that two pupils were late for assembly and when they got to the school hall they were attacked by the suspect.
"The report from his mother is that she usually drops both her sons at school but on the day the suspect left home early."
Motshekga was scheduled to meet the two families yesterday but was unable to since the parents were too distressed to meet people.