Five men found guilty of a daring cash-in-transit heist during a pension payout at a Midlands supermarket are in court for sentencing.
|||Durban - Five men found guilty of a cash-in-transit heist during a pension payout at a Midlands supermarket appeared in court on Wednesday, as sentencing in the case began.
The men were found guilty of numerous counts of attempted murder as well as robbery with aggravating circumstances relating to a pension pay point at the kwaSiyabonga Butchery in Kranskop on July 2, 2010. During the trial in the Pietermaritzburg High Court, evidence emerged of how one of the men, who had been hiding in the Msinga mountains, flung his cash loot into the air when cornered by a police helicopter. The money was blown away by the draft from the hovering helicopter’s rotors.
Five people, including a four-year-old boy, were wounded during a gun battle that erupted in the street outside the store when civilians confronted members of the gang.
The police pursued the robbers to a homestead in Msinga after recognising their two getaway bakkies from a description that had been circulated.
There they came under fire from the gang but the police returned fire from a donga, calling for back-up and more ammunition as theirs had run out.
When the police chopper arrived, the robbers fled into the mountains, but the police gave chase, finding one of the men hiding in a tree, holding a pistol in each hand. Khulekani Ntshalintshali, who pleaded guilty and has been sentenced to 15 years for the five attempted murder charges, and to another 15 for robbery with aggravating circumstances, said he had been among the robbers inside the shop when they heard the gunfire and fled.
Those before court were Sizwe Ntshangase, 25, Muzi Ndawonde, 26, Sihle Mngoma, 31, Mlungisi Magwaza, 22, Mpoto Langa, 30. Another suspect, Mzwandile Mngoma, 31, absconded.
The case resumes on Thursday.
Daily News