South African king Set To Spend 12 Years In Jail

A South African king, Buyelekhaya Dalindyebo is set to go to jail after the country's highest court threw out his bid to overturn a 12-year prison sentence.

King Dalindyebo was accused of kidnapping a woman and her six children, setting their home on fire and beating up four youths, one of whom died, because one of their relatives had failed to present himself before the kings's traditional court.

"His behaviour was all the more deplorable because the victims of his reign of terror were the vulnerable rural poor, who were dependent upon him. Our constitution does not countenance such behaviour," the Supreme Court of Appeal said in a judgement in October.

"We are a constitutional democracy in which everyone is accountable and where the most vulnerable are entitled to protection," it added.

The Constitutional Court's rejection of his appeal bid means he has no option but to report to prison, says the BBC's Pumza Fihlani in Johannesburg.