The 44-year-old KwaZulu-Natal father who murdered his four children was sentenced to four life terms in the Pietermaritzburg High Court on Wednesday.
Sibusiso Mpungose pleaded guilty to the crimes last month.
He killed his four children aged four, six, ten and 16 in September.
Three of the children's bodies were found in their Wyebank home - while the eldest child's body was found in New Germany.
Parts of Mpungose plea statement were read out in court by Judge Sharmaine Balton.
The man said he committed the crimes because he believed his wife had been having an affair with the father of his 16-year-old stepdaughter - an allegation she denied.
He said when his wife decided to divorce - he had an emotional breakdown and planned to take his own life - and those of his children.
In handing down the sentence, Judge Balton said the father had no respect for human life.
Balton said his actions were atrocious and he gave the court no compelling circumstances because he mercilessly killed his children.
Balton also read out from the mother's victim-impact statement, in which she said the man took away her precious children and that she cannot bear to even look at another child.
The mother says her life ended when her children died.
Pic: Nushera Soodyal
