SOUTH AFRICA: A white farmer convicted of murdering a black former employee and throwing him to a pride of lions was sentenced to life imprisonment yesterday at the end of a case that hit a raw nerve across South Africa, highlighting simmering racial tensions 11 years after the end of apartheid.
Crowds of angry black people inside and outside the courtroom in the small rural town of Phalaborwa cheered when Judge George Maluleke sentenced Mark Scott-Crossley to life imprisonment.
Simon Mathebula, an employee of Scott-Crossleyâ who was also convicted of the murder, received 15 years, with three years suspended, as the judge ruled that he was merely an accomplice.
The two men were convicted of killing Nelson Chisale in January 2004. Mr Chisale had been sacked by Scott-Crossley a month before but returned to the farm to retrieve some pots and pans.
He was seized by Mathebula, who tied him to a tree and, with Scott-Crossley, beat him until he lost consciousness, the court was told.
Scott-Crossley then used his pickup truck to carry Mr Chisale several miles away to a farm where rare white lions were being bred. With the help of Mathebula and two other employees, Scott-Crossley threw Mr Chisale into an enclosure which held five lions.
All that was found of him were a few bones and some shredded clothes. His remains were identified by a single finger from which police could take a print.
Although the autopsy stated that Mr Chisale had died from being "mauled by lions", it was not clear whether he was dead before being thrown into the pen.
Scott-Crossley displayed a volatile temper during the trial. When he threatened a witness, his bail was revoked. Later he shouted out during testimony and made obscene gestures to photographers. - (Guardian Service)