WENTWORTH detective W/O Walter Marais has been commended by the station management for convictions he secured on Tuesday, 19 March.
After 10 months of investigation, he secured an 18 year sentence for attempted murder (10), five years for attempted business robbery, another five for armed robbery and three years for possession of unlicensed firearm and possession. The arrest was made last year on 16 June when Mandla Maphumulo tried to rob a Caltex garage in Wentworth and held up the cashiers at gunpoint. “The gunman was approached by the petrol attendant and a security guard, who attempted to stop him. Maphumulo then fired a shot at the security guard causing the two men to take cover,” said communication officer, Lt Mbuso Gumede from Wentworth SAPS. He left the garage and ran down the road, where he held up a man for his cellphone. Police officers from Vispol unit, Sgt Henry Sibisi, Cst Thamsanqa Ngwane and Eric Mkhize were at the first crime scene when they noticed the robber run towards another business. He fired a shot at the officers who then pursued him, returned fire and shot him in the arm and leg. His crime spree came to an abrupt halt when he was arrested and taken to hospital put under police guard.
The firearm and stolen phone were recovered and the robber was later positively identified by the victim. After thorough investigation, Maphumulo was found guilty in Durban Regional Court and sentenced to an effective 18 years behind bars. He was also declared unfit to possess a firearm.
W/O Marais secured a second conviction on the same day for an armed robbery committed on Saturday, 16 April.
The victim was outside her workplace waiting, for the security guard to open the gate when a man approached her wielding a knife. He held her up and forcibly took her handbag which contained a Samsung tablet, cash and other personal items.
The woman opened a case at Wentworth station but the suspect, Kerwin Johnson aged 21, was unknown at that time. Due to the initiative of the detective, the man was arrested a day later, thanks to information received from informers. All stolen items were recovered. He was given an eight years sentence for robbery with aggravating circumstances.
Lt Gumede said: “The sentence will be hefty to those who commit robbery crimes and other serious crimes in the community and whether the accused is a juvenile or not, crime is still a crime. The community needs to be free of crime and the police are here to ensure the safety of our community and that is our vision as police.”
