Four suspects appeared before the Rustenburg Magistrates’ Court on 12 February 2020, for charges of business robbery, possession of unlicensed firearm and ammunition and possession of suspected stolen property.
Sphesihle Magubheni (21), Siyabulela Lokwe (31), Masivuyile Nkosana (30) and Mkokeleni Nobadla (24) were remanded in custody and will make their second court appearance on Monday, 17 February 2020.
The Court appearance emanates after they were arrested on Monday, 10 February 2020, at about 03:00 in Extension 13, Boitekong by members from the National Intervention Unit (NIU), assisted by Rustenburg Tactical Response Team (TRT).
During the arrest, a 9mm Norinco pistol, of which the serial number was filed off, was also seized by police. This breakthrough was aided by the Shoprite Group’s proactive loss prevention programme and the strategic actions of their investigation team.
Months of intense investigations revealed that a group of suspects were robbing various retail shops, throughout the country. The robbers would focus on robbing cash from the tills, as well as liquor, cigarettes, and mobile phones. Furthermore, when retreating from the scene the robbers would allegedly fire gunshots as warning.
In one of the incidents, which occurred in Kanana close to Orkney on 17 October 2019, a local retail shop and the neighbouring liquor shop were robbed. On Friday, 7 February 2020, at about 17:20 another retail shop in Northam was robbed of mobile phones and cash, using similar modus operandi. A tip-off from the community resulted in the information channelled to the NIU, currently deployed in Rustenburg, who immediately acted and arrested the suspects.
The linkages to more business robberies are expected as investigations continuous. Anyone with information that can assist the police is requested to contact Captain Jefro Ramorwesi on 082 416 3457 or Constable Pieta Mosete on 078 926 3810/ 014 593 3001
The Provincial Commissioner, Lieutenant General Sello Kwena, congratulated the team on arresting these alleged robbers and commended the collaboration between the police and the investigation team of Shoprite, that lead to these arrests. He said police can’t solve crime without the active participation of the community and gave the assurance that police will continue to work hard to ensure successful prosecution.
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