INLSA

Skierlik shooter Johan Nel talks sits in the dock surrounded by heavily armed police officers on the second day of his trial at the Mafikeng High Court in the North West Province. Picture: Jennifer Bruce

The relatives of Skierlik killer Johan Nel’s victims are enraged that the man who killed their children can marry.

Nel, 21, who is serving four life sentences, married Maryna Naude, 18, at Ramochana prison outside Rustenburg in the presence of his parents and in-laws.

He was allowed to wear private clothes but couldn’t embrace or kiss his bride. There was no honeymoon. Instead, she and both sets of parents left immediately afterwards – and he went back to his cell.

Yesterday, Ofentse Motshelanoka said his family had been devastated to learn that their child’s murderer had been allowed to get married.

“It’s shocking for us. How can a person who savagely and brutally gunned down a young boy be allowed such a privilege? We are not satisfied. It has been hard for us to accept this. We are really not happy.”

In January 2008, Nel dressed in camouflage fatigues and went on a shooting spree through the informal settlement of Skierlik, 10km from the North West town of Swartruggens.

Shouting “K*****, K*****, K*****”, he killed Enoch Tshepo Motshelanoka, 10, Sivuyile Peyi, 37, Annah Moiphitli, 31 and her three-month-old baby Elizabeth. Several other people were injured.

Nel, 17 at the time, was sentenced to four life terms after pleading guilty to four charges of murder and 11 of attempted murder.

Jacob Moiphitli, who lost his sister and niece, was distraught.

“How did he get married? How was the wedding approved? Our children are lying six feet underground and yet he has the chance to have fun. One day he will have his own children. What about the young and innocent life that he ended? My niece Elizabeth would probably have been a success in life. She would have taken care of me. What kind of a sick joke is this?” asked Moiphitli.

Yesterday, Department of Correctional Services spokesman Zachariah Modise said prison marriages were unusual as “offenders are reluctant to expose their spouses to the harsh and traumatic atmosphere of prisons”.