‘To rob and steal’

The police’s motto is “to serve and protect”, not “to rob and steal”.

This is according to a prosecutor who spoke in the Pretoria Regional Court yesterday before a constable was given 18 years’ imprisonment for his involvement in a robbery in Marabastad.

Ashivanga Tshivase had been employed at the Sandton police station, but lost his job, without benefits, after he was convicted along with Jerry Mthombeni and Paul Ndlovu Tlou.

Magistrate Edmund Patterson yesterday sentenced Tshivase’s two co-accused to an effective 15 years’ imprisonment each. Mthombeni and Tlou had been in custody awaiting trial for almost four years, while Tshivase was out on bail.

The court earlier found that the former constable’s service pistol was used in the attack. He also drove the getaway car.

All three were convicted of robbery with aggravating circumstances. Mthombeni and Tlou were also convicted of the unlawful possession of a semi-automatic firearm and ammunition, and Mthombeni was also found guilty of discharging a firearm in a public place.

The three were part of a gang who entered a Marabastad shop on December 15, 2006, held up shopowner Leslie Bue and robbed him of R20 000. However, when the gang left, a mob was waiting for them outside, and in the chaos, the robbers fired a shot.

Mthombeni was found hiding underneath a piece of corrugated iron behind the shop.

Tlou, who also hid nearby after being attacked by the mob, had money hidden in his underwear. This was discovered when he was taken to hospital.

Prosecutor PW Coetzer argued that the robbery was premeditated had been executed with military precision. “They fired shots at bystanders, not afraid to use firearms. It was just before closing time, when there would be more money in the shop. Robberies of businesses destroy our economy,” he said.

Referring to Tshivase, Coetzer said he was a serving SAPS member at that stage.

“A person joins the police to stop crime, not to commit it with his own service firearm. The SAPS’s motto is ‘to serve and protect’, not ‘to rob and steal’,” said Coetzer.

Patterson took the mitigating factors into account, complimenting Mthombeni on the courses he had done in jail while awaiting trial.

“But you must still be punished for the crime. You said you have a poor self-esteem due to your poor background, but the majority of people have the same problems. It is what you do with your life that distinguishes you from others,” he said.

Referring to Tlou, who had studied marketing, Patterson said he could have made the most of his life.

To Tshivase, the magistrate said: “You had to wear your badge and uniform with pride. Instead, people like you make a mockery of the justice system. How can the community place trust in the police with people like you?” - Pretoria News