ARMED gangs targeting large sums of cash that post offices were meant to use for payouts of the R350 Social Relief of Distress grants trended in 2021.
However, the police and the National Prosecuting Authority have recorded successes by bringing some gang members to book with arrests, convictions and prison sentences.
On Monday, another gang member, Themba Tembe, 25, was convicted at the Durban Regional Court on a robbery with aggravating circumstances charge in connection with a January 18, 2021, Eshowe post office heist.
R250 000 in cash was taken and Tembe, who worked for a business providing e-hailing services, drove the getaway vehicle.
But his side-hustle landed him trouble with the law while the three other gang members are still at large.
The grants were meant to provide relief the poor, but criminal elements saw the payout days as enrichment opportunities.
Prosecutor Nomalungelo Mathenjwa represented the State in Tembe’s matter and she also prosecuted other, similar post office robbery cases that occurred in the greater Durban area (Amanzimtoti, Mobeni, Hammarsdale and Isipingo) between January and February 2021.
Tembe transported his three accomplices in his company-owned Toyota Corolla to the Eshowe post office. They all wore masks and hats.
He waited outside while the others went in and grabbed the cash.
While none of the actual robbers could be identified, Tembe was tracked because a security guard at the post office recorded the Corolla’s number plate, which pointed police to the owner of Tembe’s company.
The owner told investigators that Tembe was asked previously to dispose of the plates, which had already been scrapped
It was also discovered that the car assigned to Tembe was a Toyota Etios but he did a swop with the Corolla driver to use the vehicle at the time.
In arguing for his conviction, Mathenjwa told the court the State had provided compelling circumstantial evidence.
Mathenjwa said that Tembe was at the scene of the crime and his presence was confirmed via cellphone tracking techniques, which confirmed that he transported the others.
A vehicle tracking report also established that the car was near the post office.
Acting magistrate Ada van Vuuren agreed that the only inference that could be drawn was that he drove the getaway car.
Mathenjwa prosecuted a matter that was concluded in April where Ayanda Mthembu, 27, was handed a 12 year prison sentence by magistrate Sophie Reddy for robbery with aggravating circumstances for his involvement in a February 2021 Isipingo post office heist.
Cellphones and nearly R30 000 in cash were taken.
The e-hailing service driver who was hired by Mthembu and four others to fetch them from Umlazi was a crucial State witness.
The driver became suspicious when the occupants cocked their firearms and directed him to go to Isipingo. He was forced to wait with two of the men while the others robbed the post office.
He texted a distress signal to a police officer friend.
As he drove off with the robbers and their loot, police got him to stop, leading to a shootout between police and the gang, who fled on foot, but Mthembu was captured.
Sage Khowa, 41, got a 25-year jail term in November for his involvement, allegedly with four others, in a January 26, 2021, robbery at the Amanzimtoti post office, where R120 000 was taken.
Khowa faced robbery with aggravating circumstances and two attempted murder charges.
Magistrate Farieda Mohamed convicted him on all three counts in a matter prosecuted by Mathenjwa.
During a shootout between security officers and Khowa’s fleeing gang, he rolled out of their vehicle and ran into a house in the Umbumbulu area and pretended to be a part of the family, but was arrested.
Two days later, the other four men allegedly robbed the Hammarsdale post office and bagged R261 000.
Siphelele Msomi, 29, and Mlungisi Mbambo, 45, were arrested as they were forced to flee on foot because Michael Mayisela, who allegedly drove the getaway car, left without them when community members gave chase.
Police shot dead a third suspect at the scene.
Mayisela was arrested when police traced the getaway cars used in Amanzimtoti and Hammarsdale robberies to his home. The cars were in his wife’s name.
Their trial begins next month.
SUNDAY TRIBUNE