Zimbabwean fugitive Norman Mukunuwendo, 21, yesterday pleaded guilty to escaping from the Mdantsane correctional facility earlier this month.
He was one of four dangerous criminals who escaped on January 10.
Only Lihle Zikholisile, 19, from Mthatha, has not been caught and returned to jail.
Justice was swift for escapee Phikolomzi Sonakele. On Thursday Mdantsane Magistrate Johané Grootboom sentenced him to three years in prison for the escape.
Mukunuwendo appeared briefly before Grootboom yesterday after he was arrested in a dramatic swoop by the Gauteng police in Pretoria last week while trying to catch a bus to Harare.
Mukunuwendo is serving a 15-year sentence for armed robbery with aggravating circumstances and possession of an unlicenced firearm and ammunition.
His attorney, Zikhona Mzizi, told Grootboom her client was never part of the escape plan and only joined in when it was on.
Mzizi blamed Sonakele for unlocking two metal doors with a spoon.
Grootboom postponed the matter to February 9 for the court to collect Mukunuwendo’s criminal records. He was returned to jail.
Mzizi told the court that once Mukunuwendo and other escapees were outside the boundary fence of the NU 12 facility, they went their separate ways.
She said Mukunuwendo then hitch-hiked and got a lift to the CBD and stood in front of the Fleet Street police station and hitched a ride in a truck to Port Elizabeth and then to family in Uitenage.
Sonakele, 23, from Mqanduli, was re-arrested on January 19, three days after the re-arrest of fellow escapee Sandile Vena, 22, from King William’s Town. Vena will be sentenced on March 8.
The alleged mastermind of the prison break, Sonakele was serving a 12-year sentence for robbery with aggravating circumstances.
He was due to appear in the Mqanduli Magistrate’s Court on February 14 on rape charges. — malibongwed@ dispatch.co.za
Third Mdantsane prison escapee back in court, jail
He was one of four dangerous criminals who escaped on January 10.
Only Lihle Zikholisile, 19, from Mthatha, has not been caught and returned to jail.
Justice was swift for escapee Phikolomzi Sonakele. On Thursday Mdantsane Magistrate Johané Grootboom sentenced him to three years in prison for the escape.
Mukunuwendo appeared briefly before Grootboom yesterday after he was arrested in a dramatic swoop by the Gauteng police in Pretoria last week while trying to catch a bus to Harare.
Mukunuwendo is serving a 15-year sentence for armed robbery with aggravating circumstances and possession of an unlicenced firearm and ammunition.
His attorney, Zikhona Mzizi, told Grootboom her client was never part of the escape plan and only joined in when it was on.
Mzizi blamed Sonakele for unlocking two metal doors with a spoon.
Grootboom postponed the matter to February 9 for the court to collect Mukunuwendo’s criminal records. He was returned to jail.
Mzizi told the court that once Mukunuwendo and other escapees were outside the boundary fence of the NU 12 facility, they went their separate ways.
She said Mukunuwendo then hitch-hiked and got a lift to the CBD and stood in front of the Fleet Street police station and hitched a ride in a truck to Port Elizabeth and then to family in Uitenage.
Sonakele, 23, from Mqanduli, was re-arrested on January 19, three days after the re-arrest of fellow escapee Sandile Vena, 22, from King William’s Town. Vena will be sentenced on March 8.
The alleged mastermind of the prison break, Sonakele was serving a 12-year sentence for robbery with aggravating circumstances.
He was due to appear in the Mqanduli Magistrate’s Court on February 14 on rape charges. — malibongwed@ dispatch.co.za
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