Sundaymail Editor
Thupeyo Muleya
Beitbridge Bureau
THREE men from Beitbridge believed to be part of a gang of armed robbers that terrorised people around the border town have been jailed for an effective 10 years each by regional magistrate Ms Charity Maphosa.
Nkosi Nkomo (27), Majajama Ndlovu (24) and Hulisani Ndou (21) were sent to prison for a crime committed in September last year.
Although they pleaded not guilty to a charge of robbery, they were convicted on the strength of overwhelming evidence.
Ms Maphosa initially sentenced them to 12 years in jail each before suspending one year for five years on condition of good behaviour and another year each if they restitute the stolen property.
Prosecuting, Mr Willbrought Muleya said on September 18 last year at around 1 am the trio, along with two others still at large, pounced on the complainant in the low-density suburbs after finding him fixing his vehicle.
The gang scaled up the security wall, confronted the man and produced a firearm, threatening to kill him if he resisted their demands.
They immediately took away two smartphones from him and marched him into his house at gunpoint.
Nkomo and his accomplices took a laptop and a hair clipper and fled from the scene. The matter was reported to the police and the trio were tracked via a cell phone to Musina in South Africa, where they were later arrested for violating immigration laws and were also found with the pistol, a hammer and the laptop.
They were arrested during security vetting in Beitbridge and deported.
Bongani Ndlovu
Online Reporter