A Lesotho national, Itumeleng Sello Serache, will serve 38 years in prison for two separate cases of armed robbery at businesses, one in the Free State town of Excelsior and another in Kuruman, Northern Cape.

The Bloemfontein Regional Court sentenced Serache on 30 November after finding him guilty of robbing a business owner of cash, cellphones and clothes, all valued at R15 684,30 in Excelsior in 2014.

For the armed robbery in Kuruman he was convicted and sentenced to 25 years, after the court had found him guilty of attempted murder and armed robbery.

Sgt Martin Xuma, spokesperson for the Selosesha police cluster, said Serache, who had been on the run after the Excelsior robbery, was arrested in Kuruman for another armed robbery at a business early in 2015.

He said intensive investigation into the Kuruman robbery linked the accused to the robbery in Excelsior through fingerprints.

Xuma said Serache was one of three armed robbers wanted in connection with the Excelsior ­incident.