JOHANNESBURG (AFP) — A South African court on Friday sentenced a white youth to four life sentences for killing four black people including two children in a race attack in a small farming town.
Johan Nel, 18, randomly opened fire on people in the Skierlik black settlement near his family farm in Swartruggens in January, killing four and injuring 11.
Those killed included a three-month-old boy and a 10-year-old boy.
According to court papers, Mmabatho High Court Judge Ronald Hendricks sentenced Nel to four life terms and 76 additional years for 11 counts of attempted murder, and possessing an illegal firearm and ammunition.
Hendricks said it was clear that the shootings of innocent people were racially motivated.
Nel's lawyer Johann Engelbrecht told AFP he planned to appeal against the sentence. "We'll argue the application for leave to appeal on December 12," he said.
During the trial it emerged that Nel's action were motivated by his fears that his family would be attacked by black people.
The shooting spree shocked a nation still recovering from whites only apartheid rule which ended in 1994. Nel was found to be fit to stand trial after undergoing psychiatric evaluation and pleaded guilty to 17 charges.
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