The Gauteng Provincial Commissioner Lieutenant General Deliwe de Lange has welcomed the sentencing of the two accused, Sandile Nyathikazi and Nhlanhleni Nzama, who murdered two Sandringham Police officers on the N3 South Highway, on Sunday 26 March 2015 at about 11:05.
They were sentenced to two life imprisonment each for murder, 20 years for the murder of their accomplice and a further 55 years for attempted murder of another police officer, robbery with aggravating circumstances and possession of unlicensed firearms and ammunition.
During the sentencing, the Honourable presiding Judge Mokgoatleng commented that he is surprised by the manner in which members were shot at where almost 90 cartridges of assault rifles and over 50 cartridges of pistols were found on the scene.
The incident took place when three Sandringham members, Constables Mthokozisi Myeza (29) and Casey Mafokoane (36) who died and constable Mafanele who was shot and wounded, spotted a silver BMW with five passengers that ignored a signal to stop along London Road in Alexandra.
They pursued the vehicle until it joined the N3 south Highway. When the BMW came into a sudden halt, the occupants started shooting at the police officers and police also returned fire. In the process, another vehicle, a gold Mercedes Benz, also stopped behind the officers’ vehicle and shot at them.
Myeza was fatally shot. Mafokoane and Mafanele were shot and wounded but Mafokoane died on his arrival at the hospital due to multiple wounds. Constable Mafanele was admitted at Milpark Hospital where he undergone three operations and survived. One of the suspects was also shot and killed at the scene.
A team tasked with investigation later arrested two men, Nyathikazi and Nzama. Their trial started at the South Gauteng High Court during March 2017 whereby 40 witnesses testified until the accused were convicted on 13 counts during March 2018. On the 22 of March they were both sentenced.
We are appealing to the members of the community not to fold their hands and let armed criminals run around victimising innocent citizens of this province. Our dedicated teams of police officers are out everyday to put the criminals where they belong-they must all rot in prison. Those who continue rob the community of service delivery by killing our police officers will be hunted down in order to spend their lives in prison”, says the Provincial Commissioner Lieutenant General Deliwe de Lange.
South Africa Today – South Africa News
