Mdantsane Regional Court sentenced Ndibulele Siqu (28) to 15 years in prison for robbery, five years imprisonment for possession of an unlicensed firearm and another five years imprisonment for possession of ammunition.
His sentence stems from an incident that occurred in October 2015 where a British American Tobacco vehicle driver was robbed of boxes of cigarettes.
The driver parked the vehicle to get a quick bite at a service station in Mdantsane when he was confronted by five unknown armed men who hijacked and drove to a secluded area near Crave butchery where they offloaded all the boxes of tobacco worth more than R500.000.
Two suspects, Ndibulele Sinqu (28) and Sibongiseni Mbele (30) were identified and arrested. Mbongiseni Mbele later escaped from police custody and he is still being sought. Sinqu will serve 25 years direct imprisonment.
The National Head, for the Directorate for Priority Crimes Investigation, Lt Gen Lebeya applauded the investigation and prosecuting teams for outstanding display of collaborative skills in ensuring that these suspects are convicted. He also encouraged the teams to utilize all resources available to them to ensure that the remaining suspect is brought to book.
The Eastern Cape Provincial Head of Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation, Maj Gen Obed Ngwenya commended the Serious Organised Crime Investigation team for a series of successes in their cases, stating that this is an indication of great dedication and commitment to their work.
