By Paul Nyathi
Four Bulawayo men all based in South Africa who were part of an organised syndicate of armed robbers were on Tuesday sentenced to a combined 120 years jail term by the Bulawayo Regional Court.
The four who were under the leadership of notorious Mqondisi Moyo (34), were convicted on their own guilty pleas by regional magistrate Sibongile Marondeze.
Moyo with collegues Ndabezinhle Ndlovu (24), Zenzo Sibanda (34) and Nkosiwonke Ncube (28) all based in South Africa adopted a habit of sneaking in and out of the country to carry out their ills, raided shops in Bulawayo and terrorised residents, seizing about $7 200 in cash and 18 grammes of gold.
Court records indicate that the gun-toting quartet was involved in a spate of armed robberies around Bulawayo targeting homes and shops.
They teamed up with suspects who are still at large and raided TM Pick ‘n’ Pay Supermarket in Northend, Morningside Supermarket and Choppies Supermarket in Pumula South suburb where they got away with varying amounts of money, groceries and an assortment of whiskey brands between March 4 and March 16 this year.
In passing the sentences, Mrs Marondedze who presided over the cases divided into four records ruled that the four men were a danger to society and deserved lengthy prison terms.
“In assessing the sentence, the court took into account both mitigatory and aggravating circumstances. Robbery is a serious offence which is prevalent these days and therefore calls for a deterrent sentence. What is aggravating is that the accused persons armed themselves with a firearm and crossed the border with the sole purpose of causing havoc and terror in Bulawayo and instilling fear in residents,” she said.
“The accused persons robbed the complainants in a movie style, which could be a clear indication that they first watched an action packed movie before engaging in this spate of armed robberies.”
Moyo and Ndlovu, the masterminds of the gang who took part in all the crimes, were incarcerated for a combined effective 64 years.
The other members of the gang, Sibanda and Ncube were jailed for a combined effective 32 years.
The four men, in mitigation, told the court that poverty drove them to use an illegally acquired firearm smuggled from South Africa to instil fear in their victims before robbing them.
They were each sentenced to 10 years in jail for each count of which two years were suspended in each count for five years on condition that they do not within that period commit similar offences.
On March 18, acting on a tip-off, detectives arrested the accused persons while they were drinking beer at Highlanders Clubhouse. A gun shoot out ensued on their arrest leaving two of them injured.