The Evander Regional Court sentenced a burglar to effectively serve 20 years in prison on 30 January.
Bongani Absalom (Tsaro) Mkhwanazi (57) was initially sentenced to four years’ imprisonment on two counts of housebreaking each, but then fingerprints found at other crime scenes linked him to two more cases for which he must serve six years each.
These sentences will not run concurrently, which means he will be 77 years old before he will be eligible for parole.
Mkhwanazi was arrested in April 2016. His modus operandi was to remove entire windows from their window panes when he broke in.
He mostly stole electrical appliances.
According to Capt Bettinah Zondo, Secunda police spokesman, the combined value of his loot from all the burglaries amounted to R31 000.
The police were able to track down Mkhawanazi through his accomplice, Dineo Sepele, a young woman with a petite physique.
He apparently forced her to work for him in exchange for money to pay her tuition fees.
Selepe turned witness for the state and received a lenient sentence of 12 months’ imprisonment.
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