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Johannesburg - Three men have been sentenced to life in prison by the Limpopo High Court in Polokwane for kidnapping and murder, police said on Thursday.
"Three suspects who kidnapped and killed two men they accused of being responsible for the murder of a relative of one of them met the full might of the law when they were sentenced to life imprisonment in the Polokwane [Limpopo] High Court on Wednesday," said police spokesperson Ronel Otto.
"The three suspects, Mati Moloto, 37, Lazarus Mashabela and Jan Kgatla Mahole, 41, were found guilty of kidnapping Seboko, 27, and Morapedi, 31, both Lesotho citizens, from Mhluzi near Emalahleni on 20 July 2009."
The victims' first names were not immediately available.
The three took the men whose first names were provided to Ga-Mathabatha village at Malipsdrift where they assaulted and strangled the men and dumped their bodies in the veld.
Two of the men were arrested a few days after the incident and the third shortly after that.
Three more people who were allegedly involved in the kidnapping, but not the murders, were also arrested.
"On the two counts of murder, the three men were all sentenced to life imprisonment, while they were also sentenced to a R6 000 fine or six years imprisonment on the kidnapping charges, which will run concurrently with the life sentence," she said.
The three others were acquitted on murder charges but found guilty of kidnapping.
"They were sentenced to a fine of R6 000 or six years imprisonment. They are Kabishi Makgopa, 47, Maskolle Moloto, 31, and Leonard Sekgweng, 39. All are originally from Middelburg, Mpumalanga," Otto said.
