Teen faces 169 years in prison for murder

Johannesburg: A white South African teenager who killed four blacks, including a three-month-old baby, in a racially motivated shooting spree was sentenced on Friday to 169 years in prison, SABC reported.

A court in North West province imposed the sentence on Johan Nel, 19, after he pleaded guilty to murder, attempted murder and illegal possession of a firearm and ammunition in connection with the January 14 shootings in a shantytown near Swartruggens, the broadcaster said.

The prison terms handed down for the individual charges will run concurrently.

One of the survivors of the attack, which also wounded 11 people, testified in the trial that Nel had shouted racial epithets as he opened fire on residents.

The lawyer defending Nel argued the shooting was spurred by his client's anger over the frequent murders of white farmers and small landowners since the end of apartheid in 1994 and that he feared his family could face the same fate.

Whites were insulated from crime during the apartheid era and being prosecuted for committing crimes against blacks would have not been likely.