Durban — A man who robbed the Isipingo post office was sentenced to 12 years imprisonment.
KwaZulu-Natal Hawks spokesperson Lieutenant-Colonel Simphiwe Mhlongo said: “On April 26, 2023, the Durban Regional Court sentenced Ayanda Mthembu, 26, to 12 years imprisonment for armed robbery perpetrated at Isipingo post office.”
Mhlongo said on February 23, 2021, Mthembu and his accomplices entered the post office and held up the staff at gunpoint and assaulted them.
The suspects then took an undisclosed amount of cash and five cellphones. They then fled the scene in a getaway vehicle which was later seen in the Umlazi area.
Mhlongo said a high-speed chase and shoot-out ensued.
He said Mthembu was injured during the shoot-out and taken to hospital under police guard.
Mthembu was charged with armed robbery and appeared in court several times until he was convicted, Mhlongo said.
Meanwhile, in an unrelated incident, the only suspect apprehended in the Amanzimtoti post office armed robbery of 2021 while his accomplices fled and another suspect was shot dead was recently handed a 20-year prison sentence.
ET Rapid Response managing director Tony Lokker said Sage Khowa, 38, was handed a 20-year prison sentence.
At about 10am on January 26, 2021, a call came via the Community Crime Prevention Organisation network of an armed robbery at the Amanzimtoti post office.
ET Rapid Response’s tactical response team (TRT) received information from an off-duty policeman who spotted the suspects’ escape route. The TRT saw a vehicle fitting the description given along the R603.
Once he got behind the vehicle, the suspects opened fire on ET Rapid Response members. A high-speed chase then ensued. The team came under heavy gunfire but retaliated at high speed.
The suspects left the main road onto a rural dirt road. At this point all the suspects alighted from the back of the bakkie, still shooting at the team.
The TRT vehicle had mechanical failure as a result. One suspect was fatally wounded and another was arrested. Four other suspects escaped into dense bush in the valley.
An undisclosed amount of money was also recovered, Lokker said.
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