Online Reporter
Fairness Moyana in Hwange
POLICE have arrested two Hwange men who stole US$13 529 last month from a sales representative after a night of drinking before locking him inside a house and lavishly spending the cash before fleeing to Harare.
Clinton Joromiya (26) and Gift Hadebe (26) pleaded guilty to theft as defined in Section 113(1) of the Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act [Chapter 9:23] when they appeared before Hwange provincial magistrate, Mrs Lindiwe Maphosa.
The complainant, Takawira Gomera (32) of Bulawayo’s Nketa 9 suburb, is employed by Olivine Industries as a sales representative.
The court heard that on June 19, 2026, Gomera was assigned to Hwange to collect payments from the company’s credit customers. By the evening of 20 June, he had collected US$13 529.
After knocking off duty, Gomera went out for drinks with Joromiya and Hadebe before the trio returned to Joromiya’s house in Empumalanga during the early hours of 21 June, where they went to sleep.
While Gomera was asleep, the two accused persons, together with an alleged accomplice identified only as Nokwando, who is still at large, stole his bag containing the cash before locking him inside the room and fleeing.
When Gomera woke up at around 2pm, he discovered that both the money and the two men were gone. After searching unsuccessfully for the bag, he reported the matter to the police.
Investigations revealed that immediately after the theft, the pair went to an Image Boutique shop in Hwange where they spent US$620 on new clothes, leaving behind the clothes they had been wearing.
They then travelled by taxi to Victoria Falls Airport and boarded a Fastjet flight to Harare at a cost of US$741.
Police detectives later received information that the pair were in Harare and alerted CID Homicide officers, who arrested them on 23 June.
Police recovered US$2 235 from Joromiya and US$2 345 from Hadebe. The recovered money was returned to the complainant.
In passing the sentence, Magistrate Maphosa sentenced Joromiya to 36 months’ imprisonment, with 12 months suspended for five years on condition of good behaviour and a further five months suspended on condition he pays US$4 424 in restitution by 18 December 2026. An additional three-month suspended sentence from an earlier case was brought into effect, leaving him with an effective prison term of 27 months.
His co-accused, Hadebe, was also sentenced to 36 months in prison, with nine months conditionally suspended for five years and a further 12 months suspended on condition he pays US$4 424.80 in restitution by 31 August 2026. He will serve an effective 18-month prison sentence.
The court heard that the recovered cash formed part of the stolen proceeds, while investigations into the outstanding balance and the whereabouts of the alleged accomplice, Nokwando, are continuing.
