Durban - One of the men convicted and sentenced to life for killing artist Clinton De Menezes in Westville during a New Year’s Eve party in 2013 had been released on parole just seven months prior.
Siyabonga Khoza has a chequered past, littered with multiple criminal convictions.
On Thursday, he raised the ire of Judge Esther Steyn when he sat giggling while his victims testified in aggravation of their sentence.
Khoza had been previously serving a 10-year sentence for robbery, adding to a criminal conviction repertoire of kidnapping and theft.
He had been released on parole in 2013 after serving six years of his sentence.
Riaan Du Randt, speaking on behalf of De Menezes’ sister Jacqui, said his family had paid the price.
“He got out early and we suffered the consequences of it,” he said.
Du Randt said the life sentence handed down to Khoza and his cohorts was just.
“The sentencing was a fair outcome, considering the violence of the crime and we also feel no-one has really gained anything out of this.
"Families on both side of this situation have been damaged. A lot of people are very aggressive and say they deserve it, but [Jacqui] doesn’t feel they should be completely condemned,” he said.
“Knowing the kind of person Clint was, he would have given them a second chance and we feel the same. We will be praying for them all and now this is a time for us to try and heal.”
“There are a lot of things we can complain about in this country, but what happened today is the culmination of a huge effort from the police and from the prosecutors and that is something we need to be positive about,” Du Randt added.