The sentences were imposed on Kgaugelo Manzini and Freddy Mahlangu for housebreaking with intent to rob, culpable homicide, and the unlawful possession of ammunition and a firearm, The Star reports.

Another two men convicted of the same crimes, Thembalethu Sindane and Jabu Ndebele, were sentenced to in effect eight years’ each, the newspaper reported.

Three of the men admitted to being in the Roman Catholic parish on the night in December 2009 that 70-year-old Blondel was shot dead, but denied they had anything to do with the killing.

They were apparently in search of a computer and money.

Sindane claimed he was not at the scene, but that he later agreed to hide a computer on behalf of the others.

According to the newspaper, Judge Natvarial Ranchod rejected Sindane’s claims of innocence and described him as a pathetic witness.

He found that the four should have foreseen that someone could die during the robbery.

A fifth person, Nelson Malope, pleaded guilty to the murder and was sentenced last year to 18 years in jail. He testified for the State in the trial of the other four men.

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Thu May 23 07:22:52 SAST 2013 ::

Aug 15, 2012

MommaC

Our justice system is a disgrace.
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Aug 15, 2012

GigiMavalani

10 Years. Justice Department is the ones promoting crime in RSA. Within 2 years those guys will be eligible for parole and continue where they left off. Once a Robber always a Robber. Our sentence are very linient, they feel pity for the offender more than the victim. No wonder we will remain number one in terms of crime in the world........
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Aug 15, 2012

TDK

I will throw coldrink cans at the magistrate.
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Aug 15, 2012

Tsafendason

10 years only? this justice system sucks really.
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Aug 15, 2012

OLDLADY4

Got a call from a guy on Sunday looking for a job. He is the son of a friend. In 2003 he was sentenced to 25 years in prison for murder. In 2012 he is released. Did not even serve half of his time. His family definitely does not have the money to bu.y him out, so I can only believe that something is horribly wrong with our justice and correctional systems. This seems to be happening all the time now, and we are being sidetracked with high profile releases to keep our attention away from the murderers being released.
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Aug 15, 2012

SecretAgent

I knew both priests involved in this attack personally having been a parishoner whilst they were in charge at the Orange farm parish and I feel this is a slap in the face to these men of God for the hardwork that they put in developing the Orange farm area. They literally built all 8 Catholic churches in in this area and what they have done for this community is outstanding. The people of Diepsloot have been deprived of the chance to see what these men were capable of and all this because of a computer? The saddest part is that people who are making a difference in this country are suffering due to the incompetemce of those who are in power and feed off the lies they feed to the masses.
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