Robbers sentenced to eight years for Moot burglary
“We stopped and questioned him. At the time, he had no stolen goods on him.”
Two men – Tebogo Mohlaloga (37) and Zakhele Sithole (39) – were sentenced to about eight years in prison for a 2021 Pretoria burglary and theft.
They were arrested last year on January 6 after an elderly Moot resident phoned the local CPF to tell them that she spotted them breaking into a house on the corner of 14th Avenue and Haarhoff Street.
“We were patrolling when we received the call,” said Moot CPF member Quintin van den Bergh.
Fellow CPF members Willie Cloete and Fransua van Staden were with Van den Bergh at the time.
The patrollers drove to 12th Avenue, about two blocks from where the perpetrators were seen, where they spotted one of the suspects.
“We stopped and questioned him. At the time, he had no stolen goods on him.”
Van den Bergh said that suspects do not normally walk around with stolen items in their possession.
“Usually they will throw items in a ditch or leave them in the bushes and come back later to fetch them.”
In the corner of his eye, he then noticed the second suspect.
A joint effort by the CPF members, as well as the Moot police station, led to the successful arrests.
Moot CPF chairperson Elsabe van Staden said residents should pay attention to clothing, tattoos and scars when reporting cases.
“Physical appearance is of cardinal importance. We encourage the community to report all incidents to the police.”
She said the CPF and the police worked hand-in-hand to combat crime in the area.
“Drug abuse is one of our biggest worries in the Moot. Another problem we deal with daily is car theft.
“We also receive a lot of complaints about car gate thefts.”
Most car gate thefts happen between 12:00 and 18:00 when most people are not at home.
According to Van Staden, the community was still “careless” when it comes to theft out of vehicles.
“You cannot leave valuable items such as laptops, wallets or cellphones visible in your car, especially if you go to a shopping centre.
Van Staden said that the CPF has about 121 registered volunteers who are involved with them.
“Once we have set a date, we want to invite the community to revamp the Moot police station’s look,” she said.
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