Ladysmith K9 cop guilty of
murder
Ladysmith Dog Unit Sergeant Siyabonga (Alex) Mkanyana (41), who was in
the K9 Unit at the time, was linked to the robbery by circumstantial evidence
Rod Skinner | 8 January 2014
Judge Anton van Zyl
convicted five people in the Pietermaritzburg High Court of the murder of an
accomplice, Ottoman Msimang.
Msimang died in the
collision between a cash-in-transit vehicle and a truck used to force it to
stop. The truck was driven by Msimang, who died of his injuries in the 2009
cash-in-transit heist along the N11.
Van Zyl, in convicting,
said they (the accused) should have foreseen that death could occur when moving
vehicles collided. The other men killed were the transit van driver George van
Tonder and his guard Sibusiso Phakathi.
The cash-in-transit heist
was carried out with brutal military-like efficiency.
The heist happened on
August 30, 2009, when a van carrying close to a million rand was rammed by a
large truck. The robbers then used explosives to blow open the back of the
vehicle. Two security guards were killed, along with one of the robbers.
Ladysmith
Dog Unit Sergeant Siyabonga (Alex) Mkanyana (41), who was in the K9 Unit at the
time, was linked to the robbery by circumstantial evidence, as well as
cell-phone and other communication records. This included being in contact with
the alleged mastermind of the robbery who was later killed in a police
shoot-out.
The Dog Unit officer was
found guilty on Tuesday by Judge Anton Van Zyl, along with four other men:
Jerody Mthiyane (37) of Mamelodi East, Philemon Nhleko (41) of Durban, Ewat
Kabr (35) of Johannesburg, and Zikethela Sokhela (36) of Vosloosrus.
Update: All were sentenced
to 30-years in jail.
Each of the five robbers
was sentenced to: Five years for the theft of the truck used in the robbery; 10
years for the explosion to open the safe; 15 years for the three murders, taken
as one; 10 years for the attempted murder of a guard; and 20 years for
aggravated robbery.
