Rattray killer sentenced to 25 years

A report on the Mail & Guardian Online site says Nkwanyana will not be eligible for parole before he has completed 18 years of his sentence. Rattray was shot dead on January 26 in his lodge in northern KwaZulu-Natal. Judge Jan Hugo found substantial and compelling circumstances in Nkwanyana\'s case, which enabled the court to impose a lesser sentence than the prescribed life in jail for murder. These circumstances are that he pleaded guilty and indicated that he was willing to testify against his former accomplices. The judge accepted that Nkwanyana\'s guilty plea was made on the basis of remorse. Judge Hugo said the celebrity status of Rattray and the damage done to the country were not taken into account in sentencing. Judge Hugo also imposed 10 years for attempted aggravated robbery of Rattray and his receptionist Nomthandazo Zulu, and three years for illegal possession of a firearm and ammunition. All sentences are to run concurrently. The motive for the attack was greed for money, the judge said. A second man who will face charges in connection with the killing is due to appear before a magistrate on February 9. Full report on Mail & Guardian Online site

The KwaZulu-Natal Government and the SA Tourism Services Association welcomed the conviction and sentencing. The sentence fitted the crime, said KwaZulu-Natal provincial Minister of Arts and Culture Weziwe Thusi. ‘I hope it will serve as a deterrent to other criminals,’ she added in a report on the Mail & Guardian Online site. ‘This rapid conviction and sentencing will do much to restore confidence, both in SA and abroad, in the government\'s ability to tackle crime,’ the Tourism association\'s CE Michael Tatalias said. Full report on the Mail & Guardian Online site