Killer rugby players must sit

2002-11-07 11:15

Bloemfontein - Two Polokwane (Pietersburg) rugby players convicted of murdering teenager Tshepo Matloha on a Limpopo game farm are going to have to remain in prison.

The Supreme Court of Appeal in Bloemfontein has refused them leave to appeal against their convictions and sentences.

Riaan Botha and Ben Korff were sentenced in the Pretoria High Court in April to 18 years' each after Matloha was killed on Botha's mother's game farm near Dendron in March 2001.

They should serve at least two-thirds of their sentences before being considered for parole.

Botha was also sentenced to four years' imprisonment for attempting to defeat the ends of justice, to be served concurrently with the murder sentence.

He and Kobus Joubert had tried to hide Matloha's body by throwing it into a dam.

Botha's application for leave to appeal against this conviction and sentence was also denied.

Joubert, who is expected to serve only eight months of his four-year-sentence before being placed under correctional supervision, did not apply for leave to appeal.

Botha, Korff and Joubert were among a group of rugby players who were visiting the farm for a "team-building weekend" when they encountered Matloha and cousins Alex and Melford Motlokwana allegedly hunting illegally with dogs on the farm.

- SAPA