Syndicate that preyed on bank clients slapped with combined 843-year jail term

The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) has welcomed the hefty sentences handed to an illegal syndicate that preyed on bank clients withdrawing large sums of money.

The high court in Johannesburg sentenced Vusimuzi Jomo Mazibuko, 43, Xolani Comfort Mkhwanazi, 32, Shaun Khumalo, 25, Vusi David Sibanyoni, 41, Sticks Nkuna Bhova, 46, and Calvin Congo Mabunda, 40, to a combined 843 years on 68 counts, including racketeering by managing and participating in an enterprise, kidnapping, robbery, murder, fraud, corruption, conspiracy and possession of illegal firearms and ammunition.

Mazibuko and Mkhwanazi were handed life terms, Khumalo got 15 years, while Sibanyoni and Bhova were handed 20 years each. The court sentenced Mabunda to a 25-year prison term.

According to NPA Gauteng spokesperson Phindi Mjonondwane, the six operated in the North West, Gauteng and Limpopo in a syndicate dating back to 2011.

“They preyed on unsuspecting bank clients who withdrew large sums of money. After obtaining information from syndicate members who observed clients withdrawing money from tellers (so-called spotters), they sent the descriptions of the victims to other team members to follow them to isolated areas or their homes so that they could be robbed of the money they had withdrawn and other belongings such as cellphones and wallets.

“They began their reign of terror in Rustenburg in 2011, where they attempted to rob the post office at Mabeskraal by kidnapping one of the employees, whom they thought had the keys to the safe.

“They moved their operation to Gauteng, where in August 2013 they observed Johan Joseph Meyer and his wife withdrawing a large amount of cash. A spotter gave this information to his associates, who followed the couple to their home, where Meyer was robbed at gunpoint and fatally shot.

“They also followed clients in Booysens, Kliprivier and Vereeniging, making use of the same modus operandi,” she said.

In 2017 they moved their operation to Giyani, Limpopo, where they used the same modus operandi to rob clients until 2018.

“They were arrested at a shop in Giyani when they accosted staff members who had moments earlier arrived after withdrawing a large amount of cash at a bank. The robbers fled the scene and were pursued by the police and subsequently a shoot-out ensued.

“The criminals were linked by means of fingerprints, facial recognition, expert evidence by bank officials and various positive identifications at several identity parades.”

Some of the sentences will run concurrently. 

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