South Africa: The High Court in Johannesburg on Tuesday sentenced a man to life imprisonment and 51 additional years for his father’s murder.

Brutus Mhlanga – a drug addict – offered three men his father’s car and R150,000 of his inheritance to help him carry out the crime.

The father was shot dead and his wife wounded in December 2017.

The National Prosecuting Authority’s Phindi Mjonondwane said: “The reason why he hired assassins to kill his father was that his parents reprimanded him for using nyaope. The court found that it was a carefully planned and executed murder.”

His accomplices Ntsheula Caswell, Hloniphani Ntombela and Patrick Ziqubu were also handed life imprisonment.

“Ntsheula was sentenced to life imprisonment plus 45 years, Ntombela to life imprisonment plus 51 years, Ziqubu to life imprisonment plus 63 years, whilst Mhlanga was sentenced to life imprisonment plus 51 years,” the police said in a statement released on Tuesday.