THEUNIS Olivier has been given a sentence of life imprisonment for murdering six-year-old Steven Siebert. He was given an additional 10 years for kidnapping and a further 14 years for indecent assault.
Judge Essa Moosa said in his sentencing remarks: "The victim must have endured excruciating pain when you indecently assaulted him and yet you displayed no emotion as you watched him die - your conduct has been cold and callous."
He said that Olivier's crimes were not only damaging to the victim, but to his family.
The trial of Theunis Olivier has thrown into stark relief the horror that family members must live through when they lose someone close to them.
The fact that Steven's mother and father found themselves having to testify in the witness stand in close proximity to the man responsible for their grief touched many who followed the trial.
There were many opposed to the death penalty, who muttered aloud that perhaps an exception should be made in this case.
Even Olivier's fellow prisoners showed their disgust by beating him in his cell.
For justice to be done in this case, Olivier must spend the rest of his life behind bars. He has been released from prison before - pardoned by Zimbabwe's president Robert Mugabe - with terrible consequences.
He will not change.
Judge Moosa found that Olivier was a "pathological liar who will go at any length to discredit anyone who differs from you".
Paedophile, liar and cold-blooded killer, Olivier has lived up to the description of him as a beast.
Tragically, there is an army of beasts such as Olivier at large in this country. Every day, children are abused, raped and killed.
The Times will never forget the pain of Steven's parents and we will fight until this country is free of these terrible crimes.
