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Tendai Chuma (40), of Number 6 Charlotte Crescent, Sauerstown, and Pius Shumba (36), of 7574/29 Tshabalala pleaded not guilty to two counts of robbery but were convicted by Mr Richard Ramaboea sitting at the Western Commonage Courts.
The duo told the court it did not rob the two women, Ms Sindisiwe Ngwenya (18), of 59754/3 Iminyela Flats and Ms Hazel Manney (19) of 59756/3 in the same suburb but had offered them jobs at a shop in Kelvin West.
Both counts were treated as one for sentence and Chuma and Shumba were each sentenced to five years in prison.
Five months were suspended from each of them on condition they restitute the complainants their property.
It was revealed that the two robbers had previous cases where they had been convicted of fraud in 2010 and 2011 and had part of their sentence suspended.
Chuma will serve an effective five years and one month after the magistrate added six months that were suspended from his previous sentence in 2011 while Shumba will serve an effective four years and nine months after the magistrate added three months, which were suspended from his sentence in 2010.
The State’s case as presented by Ms Fiona Ncube was that sometime last month at about 2pm, Ms Ngwenya and Ms Manney were going to buy beef at a butchery in Kelvin West when they were approached by Chuma and Shumba.
Chuma greeted the two women and before they could respond, slapped each of them across the face.
Shumba then emerged wielding a knife and demanded that Ms Ngwenya and Ms Manney surrender money and cellphones.
Out of fear, the two women surrendered the property, two Sumsung phones with Econet lines and $27 and fled from the scene.
In the process, Ms Ngwenya shouted back telling the two robbers that she knew them as Thabani Ndlovu’s accomplices in a series of money laundering cases.
Ms Ngwenya later spotted Chuma in the city centre and with the assistance of her brother, effected a citizen’s arrest and handed him to the police.
Chuma then implicated Shumba.
Online Reporter