Two white South African farmers were sentenced to prison on Wednesday for killing a black teenager who they had accused of stealing sunflowers.
During a hearing at the High Court in Mahikeng that was attended by black and white South Africans, Judge Ronald Hendricks described the killing as “disgraceful” and “appalling”.
The farmers have been sentenced to a combined 41 years in prison, resulting in the closure of a case that had fuelled tensions in the rural town of Coligny and showed the nation’s continuing racial divisions.