Five men convicted earlier this year of the brutal murder of a St Albans man each received hefty sentences on Friday.
Port Elizabeth High Court judge Irma Schoeman convicted Khangelani Matebe, 30, Luanda Nkolose, 31, Fuzile Kosana, 33, Athenkosi Mtshayisa, 26, and Fundile Nqwensu, 25, of the 2010 kidnapping and murder of Floris Kruger.
They were all found guilty of housebreaking with intent to rob, robbery with aggravating circumstances, kidnapping and murder.
Matebe was further convicted of the illegal possession of a firearm and ammunition.
Nqwensu, who was 17 at the time of the murder, was sentenced to an effective eight years while Mtshayisa, who was 18, will serve 15 years. The other men who were in their 20s at the time were sentenced to an effective 20 years each.
All five were arrested within days of the crime and have been in custody since.
Schoeman found none of the men had taken responsibility for their actions or shown remorse.
They all denied any involvement and claimed not to know each other even though both Matebe and Nqwensu were convicted for the same house breaking crime which took place a month prior to the Kruger murder.
A sixth accused Mzuvukile Foli, 29, was acquitted on all charges after the state failed to prove his involvement.
Kruger, 60, was attacked in his St Albans home on the night of August 31 2010.
He was beaten and tortured through the night and his body dumped near the Fairview Race Course.
DNA evidence and fingerprints at Kruger’s home and in his stolen vehicle positively linked the accused to the crime.
Nqwensu has indicated he would not appeal his conviction or sentence.
Matebe, Nkolose, Kosana and Mtshayisa have applied for leave to appeal their convictions only.
Judgment in this regard will be handed down on Tuesday.