A judge has described the ordeal of a nurse who was bound, gagged and locked in her car boot for 10 days as "the stuff of nightmares".
Justice Ngema was jailed for a minimum of eight years after he admitted the crime against Magdeline Makola in Livingston, West Lothian.
The High Court in Glasgow was told Ngema, 35, may never be freed after judge Lord Menzies imposed a life-long restriction order.
Ms Makola, 38, was abducted and left in the boot of her car last December. Police found her dehydrated and with hypothermia on Boxing Day.
The court heard Ngema, also from South Africa, wanted to steal cash to buy Christmas presents and treats.
Lord Menzies told him: "It must have been incredibly uncomfortable and terrifying for her - the stuff of nightmares.
"I cannot imagine a greater disrespect for another human being than the way you treated your victim - disrespect and a complete disregard for her wellbeing and her very life.
"What is particularly chilling is that throughout the 10 days that your victim was locked in the boot of her car you appear to have behaved perfectly normally and calmly, as if nothing was happening which involved you."
The court heard Ngema, an illegal immigrant, tried to claim asylum in 2001 but his application was rejected and he was removed from the UK the following year.
He re-entered the country in August 2002 using his brother's passport and had stayed in the UK illegally since then, finding work as a security guard and a carer in a nursing home.
