Nel may be sentenced on Friday

2008-11-19 19:04

Johannesburg - The trial of Skierlik killer Johan Nel has been postponed to Friday for judgment and possible sentencing, SABC news reported on Wednesday.

The 19-year-old is standing trial in the Mmabatho High Court in Mafikeng for the January 14 shooting spree which left four people dead and several others wounded.

The attack, believed to have been racially motivated, was carried out in the Skierlik informal settlement near Swartruggens in the North West.

Enoch Tshepo Motshelanoka, 10, Anna Moiphitlhi, 31, her three-month-old baby Kegitlho Elizabeth Moiphitlhi and Sivuyile Banani, 35, were killed in the shooting spree.

Nel has since pleaded guilty to all charges against him, including 4 of murder and 11 counts of attempted murder.

On Wednesday, a psychologist told the court that Nel deserved a sentence of between 20 and 25 years.

Superintendent Lesego Metsi, a police spokesperson attending the trial in the Mmabatho High Court, told Sapa earlier that psychologist Kobus Truter had recommended the sentence during his testimony in court.

The SABC also reported that Truter said the fact that Nel's family and friends had repeatedly been victims of violent crime made him believe that white people were under attack.

The court heard that Nel was given a suspended sentence after shooting and paralysing a man cutting grass alongside a railway line near Rustenburg in 2003.

Metsi said two state psychologists were expected to testify next.

- SAPA