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Mashudu Netsianda Senior Court Reporter
One of the eight armed robbers that raided a residential flat in Bulawayo’s Central Business District and shot an occupant before looting jewellery worth $5,000 two years ago, was yesterday sentenced to 20 years in jail. Morgan Zhulani Ndlovu, 32, of Hillside suburb was convicted of charges of armed robbery and attempted murder by Bulawayo regional magistrate Abednico Diliza Ndebele.
Ndlovu, who committed the crime in the company of Bruce Ziyambi, Sikhulile Moyo, Richard Fambira and Daniel Nkosi, will serve an effective 15 years in jail after five years of the sentence were suspended for five years on condition that he does not within that period commit a similar crime.
Ziyambi has been sentenced to nine years imprisonment while Moyo, Fambira and Nkosi cases are still pending before the court. Three more members of the gang, Alfred Chinanayi, Kelvin Nqobile Ncube and Nkosinathi Nyathi are still at large. In his judgment yesterday, Ndebele said Ndlovu committed the crime under aggravating circumstances.
“You were part of a gang that pounced on a defenceless woman and it appears you had planned to commit the crime. You shot one of your victims Aisha Moosa Lunat in the stomach using a pistol and in the process inflicting life threatening injuries. In fact, doctors described her survival as miraculous after they battled for five weeks trying to remove the bullet that was lodged inside her body,” said Ndebele.
The magistrate said the traumatic experience that Lunat went through was likely to haunt her for the rest of her life. “Robbery committed under aggravating circumstances particularly where a firearm is used is a very serious crime which attracts a very long prison term,” said Ndebele.
Ndlovu who spent two years in remand prison after faking mental illness, pleaded for leniency arguing that it was a case of mistaken identity on the part of the victim who positively identified him during an identification parade. Prosecuting, Concilia Ncube said Ndlovu and his accomplices drove two vehicles to a house in Burnside belonging to Norman David Crooks on June 28, 2013.
He misrepresented that they were electricians from Zesa and wanted to inspect a meter. Ziyambi and Ndlovu forced two domestic workers into a room, produced guns and threatened to shoot them if they did not give them money. The court heard that on July 23, shortly after 9AM, Ndlovu in the company of five accomplices went to a flat along Tongogara Street.
Ndlovu got into the flat in the company of two accomplices while the other two remained outside. “Upon entering the flat the trio met two maids who were doing laundry. They produced pistols and force- marched the two women into one of the rooms where they met Lunat who demanded to know what was happening,” said Ncube.
Ndlovu shot Lunat once in the stomach using his pistol and she sustained serious injuries and had to be rushed to Mater Dei Hospital. The three men proceeded to the third floor where they met Najma Lunat and threatened to shot her before demanding money. The victim led them to her bedroom where they took $20 and jewellery before they escaped after scaling a precast wall.
The third victim Ahmed Moosa Lunat was called to the scene by his wife who was at the flat and on arrival he spotted Ndlovu and his accomplices leaving the house. He tried to follow them in his car and when they realised that they were being followed, Ndlovu and his colleagues fired at his car resulting in the bullet shattering a left rear door.
Police reacted following a report and managed to arrest one of the armed robbers, Nkosi, who then implicated Ndlovu, leading to his arrest. Ndlovu led police to a refuse pit at a house in Suburbs where they recovered two revolvers, a .32 Ruby and a .32 Colt.
Online Reporter