Lengthy sentence brings curtain down on daring daylight raid…for now!
Earlier today (5 September), a month after receiving the dreaded ‘guilty’ verdict, the P2.3 million Turn Rite Mall robbers finally learnt their fate.
It was more bad news for the convicted quartet: Mothusi Matomela, 45, Thapelo Lekobe, 39, and South African nationals, Mzwandile Mazibuko and Ntholephi Elliot Ntshalintshali.
With no extenuating circumstances, Broadhurst Magistrates Court hit the four men with the full weight of the law, sentencing each to 16 years behind bars for armed robbery. It got worse.
The thieves were handed an additional three-year prison term for possession of a stolen Toyota Fortuner.
Their pockets didn’t escape either, fined P2, 000 each for unlawful possession of firearms and a further P2, 000 for unlawful possession of ammunition. Failure to pay will see an extra 12 months added to their sentences.
The two South Africans were also fined P3, 000 for being in Botswana illegally, with the threat of another 18 months in the slammer if they don’t pay.
It got worse still.
In a final painful blow, Magistrate Goabaone Rammapudi-Lesedi ruled that the sentences would run consecutively (one after the other), meaning in total they will be locked up for 19 years – providing they pay their fines.
The one ray of light on a dark day for the four was that their sentence was backdated to the time of their arrest, 15 October 2021, the same day of the daring daylight robbery.
However, the accused’s attorney, Leonard Mosepele voiced strong dissatisfaction at the sentencing and promised to appeal.
“There are a lot of things the Magistrate did not take into consideration, but to give a hefty lengthy sentence of 16 years of the new amendment, which the offence was committed before that amendment, one would feel it would have been fair to impose a 10 year sentence period. We are aggrieved by the judgment and the sentence so definitely we are going to appeal against both,” declared Mosepele.
Meanwhile, the bulk of the stolen cash has been returned to its rightful owners, the rifles and pistols restored to the officers, and the Toyota Fortuner returned to its South African owner. All other exhibits were forfeited to the state.
The dramatic robbery saw the suspects ambush FNB custodians, G4S security personnel, and a police escort car in broad daylight, making away with over P2.3 million and fleeing in a stolen vehicle. They did not get far, however, and were arrested in Mogoditshane later the same day, with P2.1 million of the stolen loot recovered.
The sentencing finally closes the chapter on one of Botswana’s most brazen crimes in recent memory…for now!
