Pretoria – The Standerton Regional Court in Mpumalanga has sentenced Thabiso Kina Zondi to six years in jail after he was convicted for robbery.
Police spokesperson in Mpumalanga, Brigadier Selvy Mohlala said Zondi was arrested after he tried to rob a shop.
“A 25-year-old robber was taught a life’s lesson that crime does not pay as he was sentenced by the court on Friday, 21 March, 2023,” Mohlala said.
“The accused, Thabiso Kina Zondi is said to have entered the spaza shop and pointed the shop owner and his assistant with a firearm.
“He then demanded cash but little did he know that he was playing with fire as the duo managed to disarm him and then called the police,” he said.
Zondi was arrested and charged for armed robbery and possession of unlicensed firearm.
“He appeared in the Standerton Regional Court on several occasions, then on Friday he was sentenced to six years imprisonment for count of possession of unlicensed firearm and five years imprisonment for robbery, which was wholly suspended,” Mohlala said.
“The convict was further declared unfit to possess a firearm.”
SAPS management in Mpumalanga has welcomed the sentence, and applauded the victims for doing “a great job by alerting the police after capturing the accused rather than taking the law into their own hands”.
Last month, police in Mpumalanga retrieved the body of a 27-year-old man who drowned in the Nkomazi River while fleeing from an angry mob.
At the time, Mohlala said the man, and another man who swam across the raging river, were being pursued by a group of people.
Mohlala said the drowning came just as the Tonga community was breathing a sigh of relief that the recent floods were over.
“Unlike drownings witnessed recently which were mainly accidental, the current drowning of a 27-year-old male is regrettable, and police believe that it could have been avoided if people adhered to the call by police to refrain from any form of mob justice.
“It is reported that the victim and his friend were allegedly trying to save their lives from the angry mob in Tonga when they ran into Nkomazi River,” he said.
As the two men tried to cross the Nkomazi River, one of them disappeared, swept away by the current.
“His body was spotted by the police’s air wing in the morning on March 22, six days after he went missing, about 5km from the scene where he reportedly drowned,” Mohlala said.
IOL