Hijacker-kidnapper gets 40-year sentence for Riverlea attack

A man who hijacked a couple and drove off with them has been given a lengthy prison sentence by the Johannesburg magistrate's court.

Tebogo Kgolokholo, 29, was sentenced to a total of 40 years’ imprisonment for aggravated robbery and kidnapping.

Capt Xoli Mbele said he was one of three men who hijacked a white VW Polo at Riverlea on October 30, 2018.

“A 23-year-old female was behind the steering wheel speaking to her boyfriend who was standing outside the vehicle. They were confronted by three suspects and one of them pointed a firearm at them. They forced her boyfriend to get inside the car and she was also instructed to sit in the back seat.

“They drove off and put them into another vehicle.”

About an hour-and-a-half later, a Dobsonville crime prevention patrol spotted a suspicious vehicle, a Toyota Corolla, and tried to stop it. The driver accelerated and shot at the police. Police retaliated and the hijackers' vehicle hit an electrical pole. Two jumped out and fled the scene. One suspect was shot in the thigh and taken to hospital by ambulance under police guard.

The victims were rescued without any injuries. The VW Polo was recovered at Mapetla in Soweto.

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