Three SBV employees implicated in a cash-in-transit (CIT) heist were on Friday sentenced to 30 years in jail by the high court in Pretoria.
The convicted robbers, 39-year-old Henrico Fourie, Fannie Morris Mbuyani, 30, Jasias Lucus Maseko, 48, and 28-year-old Lazarus Ntlatleng were also ordered to compensate the company for the R25-million they stole during the heist.
Judge Bert Bam convicted them for robbery with aggravation circumstances, causing an explosion, conspiracy to commit an offence, possession of an unlawful firearm and possession of unlawful ammunition.
National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) spokesperson Lumka Mahanjana said one of the accused Bekithemba Patrick Mbanjwa, who was out on bail, failed to appear in court and a warrant for his arrest has been issued.
Mahanjana explained that Fourie, who was the head of department at SBV logistics, Watloo cash centre, recruited and conspired with two other SBV employees Ntlatleng, a crew member, and David Tolo, a driver.
Tolo was granted indemnity from prosecution because he turned state witness and testified about the robbery of SBV truck no B157 on the N4 highway outside Bronkhorspruit. The cash van was on its way to Pretoria.
Mahanjana said the accused first attempted to rob the truck on December 27 2019 but they failed because there were no explosives.
“Their second attempt was on 3 January 2020, but it failed as there were no vehicles to ram the SBV truck and [because of the] visibility of the police on the N4 freeway. They only succeeded on the third attempt on 7 January 2020.
“A Mercedes-Benz was used to ram the SBV truck off the road, and it stopped, whereupon the accused fired shots. Tolo and Ntlatleng were told to exit the truck and the explosives were used to cause an explosion.
“The money valued at more than R25-million was taken from the safe and shared amongst each other,” said Mahanjana.
In its response to the jail sentence, the company said collaboration is key to fighting cash-in-transit heists.
“We thank and acknowledge the work of the NPA and the police, particularly the Hawks for the successful arrests and prosecution of four CIT criminals today. Each criminal received an effective 30-year jail term,” said the company in a statement.
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