The 18-year-old boy accused of killing a fellow pupil with a sword pleaded guilty to all the charges against him in the High Court in Johannesburg on Tuesday.

Dressed in a striped black shirt, black pants and a pair of takkies, Morne Harmse appeared before Judge Gerhardus Hattingh and pleaded guilty to murder and three counts of attempted murder.

He would be sentenced on 16 June.

Chatting to relatives of the victims

On 18 August 2008, Harmse, brandishing a Samurai sword and wearing a mask, killed 16-year-old Jacques Pretorius at the Nic Diederichs Technical High School in Krugersdorp. He also stabbed and injured another boy and two gardeners.

Harmse walked into the courtroom just before 10.30am and smiled at his family in the public gallery. His mother sobbed uncontrollably.

Some members of both the Pretorius and Harmse families, who sat in the front row, burst into tears when they saw him.