adminSukulwenkosi Dube Plumtree Correspondent
TWO knife-wielding robbers raided a shop in Mangwe District in broad daylight, stole property valued at R13,000 and left the shopkeeper tied to a chair, a court heard yesterday. Mavuka Moyo, 45, and Thandazani Ndlovu, 30, of Kweneng area in Mangwe, burst into Togotswebu Stores in Mphoengs area around 2PM.
Police tracked the duo through tyre tracks of a bicycle that one of them had borrowed from a friend and arrested them the following day. They recovered a gun from Moyo. Moyo, who was armed with a knife, threatened to stab 46-year-old Olpha Moyo, who is a shopkeeper, if she raised alarm.
He then kicked her several times and tied her to a chair using an electric cable while his accomplice stood guard at the door. Plumtree magistrate, Gideon Ruvetsa, convicted the duo of robbery while Moyo was further convicted of owning an unlicensed firearm. Ruvetsa sentenced each of them to 36 months imprisonment, with six months suspended for five years on condition that they do not within the period commit an offence of a similar nature.
In addition, he fined Moyo $500 for unlawful possession of a firearm. Prosecuting, Clemence Shawarira said Moyo and Ndlovu raided the shop on September 29. “Moyo entered into the shop holding a knife, jumped over the counter and ordered the shopkeeper to sit on a chair and remain quiet. He then repeatedly kicked her and tied her onto the chair using an electric cable.
“He then took R12,800 and a Samsung cellphone. Ndlovu was standing at the door keeping watch for anyone who would come to the shop. He later joined his accomplice inside and took two invertors and an Ecco battery,” said Shawarira. He said the two robbers fled the scene and left the shopkeeper still tied to the chair.
Shawarira said a customer who later arrived at the shop rescued Olpha and she reported the matter to the police. He said the police followed bicycle tyre tracks which had been left by the two robbers. They found a bicycle dumped in a gully and traced it to its owner, Bhekumuzi Ngwenya.
“On 10 October Bhekumuzi Ngwenya identified the bicycle as his and indicated that he had lent it to Ndlovu but had not got it back. Ndlovu was then arrested and a search was conducted leading to the recovery of R2,800 and the two invertors at his homestead.
“He then implicated Moyo who was also arrested. Upon carrying out a search in his bedroom hut police recovered a pistol with eight rounds hidden under his bed,” he said. Shawarira said Moyo failed to produce a licence for the gun.
Online Reporter