NELSPRUIT – The former army colonel who avoided serving time for his crime for 12 years is reported to have died in the custody of correctional services.
Former Col Nceba Bobelo, who was commander of the army’s joint tactical headquarters in Mpumalanga at the time of his arrest in October last year, was convicted of armed robbery in 1995. He had, along with accomplices, robbed a police station in the Eastern Cape.
Lowvelder reported in October that Bobelo had handed himself over to authorities after having evaded prison since 2001. That was the year Bobelo’s appeal against his 12-year sentence, of which three years had been suspended, failed and he was supposed to start serving time in the Eastern Cape.
At the time, Brig Gen Xolani Mabanga, spokesman for South African National Defence Force (SANDF), confirmed that Bobelo had been arrested when he reported to the joint operations national headquarters in Pretoria. He was handed over to the military police. This followed after the Nelspruit police had started looking for him after the national prosecuting authority issued a warrant for his arrest.
Beeld reported on Monday that Bobelo, who was serving his sentence in the Kgosi Mampuru Prison in Pretoria, died in hospital in Kalafong after an illness.
