'God is holding you safely'
2008-08-22 11:53
Johannesburg - Groups of mourners gathered quietly outside a Krugersdorp church around the casket of Jacques Pretorius, on Friday.
The boy who was killed in a sword attack at his school this week.
The boot of the funeral director's car was open for school friends and family to see the brown and gold casket covered with yellow flowers and a framed picture of the 16-year-old boy.
The silence was broken only by the sounds of clicking cameras as school children dressed in Nic Diederichs Technical High School uniform stood guard on the steps of the Nederduits Hervormde Kerk, all of them carrying plastic ivy leaves.
Curious onlookers stood in the street outside the church, while several policemen kept an eye on proceedings.
The funeral programme contained a picture of a smiling Pretorius and photographs of him from an early age.
"Jacques, in the 16-years, seven months and three days that you as a son, brother, cousin and friend, had been part of our lives, we experienced joy and grief. Jacques, you were taken from us so suddenly. It hurts very much, but we know that God is holding you safely in his arms", the programme read.
The church service, led by Reverend Hein Delport, was scheduled to start at 11:00.
Pretorius was killed on Monday when a fellow pupil, Morne Harmse, 18, allegedly stabbed him with a sword and injured three others.
Harmse has been arrested on a charge of murder and three of attempted murder.
- SAPA