Three armed robbery and kidnapping accused were sentenced in Gqeberha magistrate court on Friday, 8 July 2022 for robbing a courier van on 16 April 2019 while on route delivering parcels near Paterson.
On the mentioned date at 09:45, the driver and his passenger were driving on the R342 – Shamwari/Paterson gravel road busy with deliveries when a white Toyota Corolla blocked them off on the road.
A head of security from the game reserve noticed from a distance that something was amiss and became suspicious when the courier van made a U-turn and headed back to the main road. The alert security official while following the vehicle requested for assistance from SAPS Kinklebos.
SAPS Kinklebos waited at the N2 intersection and as soon as the vehicle was sighted, it was blocked off. The driver, a suspect jumped off and ran into the open field. He was apprehended.
It was established that the three accused had jumped into the courier van while two other suspects drove off in the Toyota Corolla. The driver and his passenger were shoved into the back of the van with two of the accused.
All three accused were arrested and in March 2021, they were granted bail.
The Provincial Organised Crime Investigation in Gqeberha investigated the case and on 6 July 2022, Luthando Stofile (42), Sive Mguqulwa (29) and Mpendulo Plaatjies (25) were found guilty on armed robbery and two charges of kidnapping.
On 8 July they were sentenced to 9 years imprisonment for armed robbery and 3 years each on the kidnapping charges.
The sentences on the kidnapping will run concurrent to the armed robbery sentence.
Effectively they will spend 9 years in prison.
