MBOMBELA – Three men from Acornhoek were found guilty on 14 counts of robbery, murder and attempted murder in the local Circuit High Court on Friday. The court rejected their pleas of innocence in light of the damning evidence against them.
Ndala Lizzy Chiloane (34), George Mashaba (34) and Terry Respect Mokone (26) executed three violent robberies during which three men were shot dead.
The first of the charges stemmed from an incident that took place on February 23, 2012. Mr Foster Patrick Mafunyeka testified that he was working as a security guard with Ms Lilly Zodwa Ndlocu and Mr Calvin Nkathy at the Rolle Railway Station in Acornhoek.
“Three men bombarded us in the guardroom, demanding cash, cellphones and firearms. One of them pushed me over and the other fired a shot. They sprayed my eyes with either pepper spray or a spray gun. I remember realising then that Calvin was crying, he had been shot.” Nkathy died on the scene due to a bullet wound to the stomach. Mafunyeka testified that they shot him in his left leg, robbed him of his cellphone and cuffed him to a structure in the guardroom.
He managed to remove the cuffs using an umbrella that was lying in the room. “I found Lizzy outside with her hands tied behind her back.” Mafunyeka testified that she had been shot as well. He attempted to contact the police, but struggled to move due to the wound to his leg. The police arrived on the scene and Mafunyeka was able to identify Chiloane as one of his attackers.
On the same evening in a cafe in the area, Mr Lukeni Kenneth Nqulela was confronted by two of the accused. He was ordered not to make a noise before they escorted him to a room where Mr Josias Maphosa was tied up with belts. Two other men, Mr Believe and Mr Peaceful Simelane, were brought to the room. Peaceful was shot and killed. The post-mortem stated that he died as a result of a bullet wound to the chest.
Two days later, the three approached their last victim. They threatened Mr Phanual Hlomula Chwane and an unidentified woman in an open field in Acornhoek. The woman fled the scene before the three stole R800 from Chwane. They stole his motor vehicle and shot him in the abdomen, killing him. Chiloane, Mashaba and Mokone were found guilty on all charges and they will be sentenced later this week.
