A 21-year-old gold panner has been sentenced to 20 years in prison after the High Court found him guilty of fatally stabbing a colleague during a drunken quarrel over what to do with a monkey they had failed to sell.

Justice Kabasa, sitting with two assessors, ruled that Mlindeli Siziba used a knife to stab the victim multiple times in the back, puncturing his lungs, after the deceased suggested they give the monkey away. His co-accused, Mthulisi Moyo, was acquitted for lack of evidence.

"All the deceased had done was ask that you give away a monkey. He died because of such a flimsy reason," Justice Kabasa said in her ruling. "Why would one use a lethal weapon to stab a human being several times and aim at vital organs if the intention is not to kill?"

The court dismissed Siziba's claim of self-defence, pointing out that the victim was fleeing when attacked.

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"A person fleeing is no danger to anyone. The ones pursuing are the danger to the one fleeing. What self-defence is that when the victim is attacked from the back?"

The judge condemned the growing use of knives in violent disputes among artisanal miners.

"The use of knives is becoming worrisome and gold panners appear to take knives as the weapon of choice. People ought to respect the sanctity of life. Life is a gift which ought not to be taken away at the hands of another."

Siziba, who left the victim to bleed to death by a riverbank and lied that "he was alright," showed no remorse, the court said.

Handing down sentence, Justice Kabasa stressed that deterrence was necessary.

"At 21 you are not so young to deserve a reduction of an otherwise appropriate sentence. There was nothing youthful in your conduct. The presumptive penalty is 20 years. We find no reason to depart from that."

Siziba was jailed for 20 years, while Moyo walked free after being given the benefit of the doubt.