As convicted child rapist and killer Mortimer Saunders sat in the dock waiting for the judge to enter the courtroom, he appeared mildly interested in the media attention and looked up at the gallery when mense called his name.
Most of the time, he sat with his head down, dressed in a grey jacket with a big yellow M on it and sporting a new fader haircut.
The gallery, filled with family and friends of his victim, Courtney Pieters, 3, was restless and mense taunted him.
Somebody shouted: “Jou hol gaan verjaar. Jy laggie meer nie, ne. Hou jou hol vas,” which drew laughter from the courtroom.
At this, Saunders turned to stare up at the gallery but did not respond.
During sentencing, the stone-faced Saunders showed no emotion.
After his sentence was read, his defence lawyer, Morne Callitz, disappeared before his client was taken out of the courtroom.
As the gallery erupted, another person shouted: “Morty, Morty, bye!”
Saunders, who appeared resigned to his fate, grinned briefly before he was led away.
There was no sign of his parents.
Outside court people celebrated, screaming: “Justice for Courtney. My child is your child.”
Suretta Steenkamp, a resident of Elsies River who loyally attended the case throughout, said: “He deserves to spend his life paying for what he did.”
Another resident, Carol Meyer, 43, added sadly: “For the life he took, he gets a home with three square meals a day, time to meditate, to exercise, running water, family visits and most importantly, time to live, something he took away from Courtney.”