A GUNMAN who held up a shop assistant in a video shop in Port Shepstone in 2013 will spend the next 12 years behind bars.
Mxolisi Mafu (33), who leapt off the Mzimkhulu bridge to escape arrest, was recently found guilty of the business robbery by Port Shepstone Regional Magistrate, Johann Bester.
Mr Bester said in his judgement that the state had proved beyond reasonable doubt that Mafu was one of the robbers.
“The shop assistant had been threatened with grievous bodily harm during the robbery,” he said.
While passing judgement, Mr Bester said the conduct of Mafu, in jumping from the bridge, was desperate to say the least and showed a guilty conscience on his part.
In July 2013, a video shop assistant was held up at gunpoint by three men at a shopping complex in Port Shepstone. They demanded cash and fled with R1 500.
One of the men had tried to take the shop assistant’s cellphone. However, she clung to the phone and the gunman hit her on the back of the head while another man man threatened her with a knife.
The woman refused to let go of her phone and the knifeman bit her hand. They gave up when she did not release the phone and demanded to know where the safe was.
She then quickly hid her cellphone inside her trousers while they removed money from the safe.
The knifeman pressed her to the floor, using his weight to hold her down by the throat so she was unable to breathe. He then removed the cellphone from her trousers.
Meanwhile, Lieutenant-Colonel Edward Stephen from Port Shepstone SAPS, had heard about the robbery in progress on the police radio and responded.
He saw a man running towards the Mzimkhulu river bridge and gave chase. The next moment the man jumped off the bridge and landed on a sandbank, recovered and fled into the dense bush.
Weeks later he was arrested by police and charged. He pleaded not guilty to robbery with aggravating circumstances and made several court appearances before being sentenced.
Detective Warrant Officer Lami Mjweni from Port Shepstone detectives was the investigating officer.
