Nushera Soodyal

Three people convicted of killing internationally renowned botanists, Rodney and Rachel Saunders, have been handed double life sentences. Lengthy trial ends Safydeen Del Vecchio, his wife Fatima Patel and Ahmad Musa were found guilty last month. The elderly Saunders couple were abducted near Eshowe eight years ago while filming a documentary on plants for the BBC.

There are questions over the presence of a senior South African diplomat during former president Jacob Zuma's recent visit to India, where he met with one of the Gupta brothers, who were at the centre of the state capture scandal. Zuma defends meeting The MK Party leader and Ajay Gupta visited an ashram, the Dakshin Kali Mandir in Haridwar, last week. South Africa's Ambassador to India, Anil Sooklal, joined them.

Two men and a woman convicted of killing botanists Rodney and Rachel Saunders will know their fate at the Durban High Court today. Safydeen Del Vecchio, his wife, Fatima Patel, and Ahmad Musa were found guilty last month of the kidnapping and murder of the UK-born botanists. It's been eight long years since the brutal murders of the elderly couple, who were kidnapped from the Ngoye Forest near Eshowe.