THREE men and a woman who were arrested by Toti detectives in connection with an armed robbery and kidnapping case were denied bail in Durban Magistrate’s Court on Wednesday, 29 October.
The four, Khanyisile Gumbi (43), Sihle Given Msizazwe (29) , Malungelo Ngwazi (51) and Mondli Emmanuel Skhosana (43) were nabbed in Ixopo on Saturday, 4 October, after an incident in the vicinity of Galleria and Arbour Crossing in August.
“They operated in various shopping malls in Durban and along the South Coast to Umzinto, where the woman would go into a bank to identify people making large withdrawals. On leaving the bank, she would follow them, throw a roll of money on the floor and ask them whether the money belonged to them and suggest they share it,” said communications officer of Toti SAPS, Capt Charlene van der Spuy.
The woman steered the victim to a quiet area, where they would be approached by three men in civilian clothes. One would identify himself as Detective Luthuli, produce a police identity card and have them accompany him to the police station for further investigation.
The unsuspecting victim would get into their vehicle believing they were en-route to the police station. Their usual mode of transport was either a white VW Polo, new sky-blue Toyota Corolla sedan or an old Ford sedan.
“Once inside the vehicle, they would drive off, threaten the victim at gunpoint and demand they hand over the money.”
The victim was dropped off near a sports ground at an industrial area and told to get out, run or get shot. The alleged robbers were arrested in Ixopo, after investigating officer, W/O TC Nyawose with the assistance of his colleagues, W/O Hlubi and Csts L Gumede and SC Zithumani followed-up on information received during the investigation.
They appeared in Durban Magistrate’s court on Thursday, 6 October, where they were remanded back into custody for an identification parade, which took place on 10
October. On being denied bail on 29 October, they remain in police custody pending further investigation before a trial date is set.
