Two Umlazi men involved in a dramatic shoot-out and robbery at a pension payout point have been convicted on numerous charges of robbery and attempted murder.
|||Durban - Two Umlazi men who were part of a dramatic shoot-out and robbery at a Mid Illovo pension payout point have been convicted on numerous charges of robbery and attempted murder.
Eric Malunga, 25, and Thami Msomi, 31, were found guilty on Monday by Pietermaritzburg High Court Acting Judge Nomphumelelo Radebe of four counts of robbery with aggravating circumstances, two counts of theft, 21 counts of attempted murder, one count of malicious damage to property and three counts of the unlawful possession of firearms and ammunition.
The men went on a crime spree across KwaZulu-Natal, beginning on March 12, 2008, when they robbed at gunpoint a couple, Willem and Melishea Herbst, and their son, Armand, of their Kia motor vehicle, four cellphones, a Maverick 12-bore shotgun, a .38 special revolver and cash, at their home in Sheffield Beach.
They stole a Mitsubishi Pajero from a woman, Princess Ngcobo, on April 21, 2008, at Cato Square in Durban, and then, on May 3, they stole a Honda Ballade from Jeremy Holdcraft in Umhlanga Ridge.
The men used the stolen vehicles and firearms to rob a Fidelity Security Services Vehicle in Mid Illovo.
On the morning of May 6, 2008, four security guards travelled with the money to Mid Illovo, where they met three employees of Cash Paymaster Services (CPS), a private company contracted to pay out pensions and social grants, who arrived with their cash dispensing machines.
As the employees were setting up their machines at a store, the robbers arrived in stolen vehicles.
They opened fire on the armoured vehicle and security guards, members of the public and the CPS employees, injuring one guard.
They then robbed an injured guard of his radio, his automatic rifle and ammunition. They also robbed the store security guard of his firearm.
Chris Kitz, who was sitting in his bakkie outside the store, also fell victim to the robbers, who opened fire on him. He abandoned his vehicle and fled into the nearby sugar cane field. The robbers then used Kitz’s bakkie to ram the fence enclosing the yard outside Jabulu Store.
They removed cash boxes from the armoured car and loaded it into their vehicles before speeding off with about R754 000.
Policemen at Mid Illovo gave chase and returned fire. They arrested Malunga and Msomi.
Both men escaped custody during the course of their trial, but were re-arrested by members of the Pietermaritzburg Serious and Violent Crimes Unit in 2010.
Sentence will be delivered on July 23.
Daily News