JOHANNESBURG  The white owner of a construction company, initially sentenced to life in prison in 2005 for ordering that a black man be beaten and then thrown to a pack of lions, was released Thursday on parole  a stunning turn in the notorious “lion’s den case” that has left many South Africans enraged.

“It is clear from the poor working class, poor communities that those who are rich and white will continue to be treated differently than those who are poor,” read a statement from the North West Congress of South African Trade Unions. Several other organizations issued similar messages of protest.

Mark Scott-Crossley, the owner of the construction company, had been convicted of murder in the killing of a former worker, Nelson Chisale, in Limpopo Province.

South Africa has one of the highest homicide rates in the world, and the most monstrous killings are a staple of newspaper headlines.