House robber sentenced to 35 years
HILLBROW - A HILLBROW criminal, Thabiso Zondi, will serve an effective 20 years of a 35-year prison term imposed by the Alexandra Magistrates' Court for possession of an illegal firearm and for house robbery.
The robbery occurred at the Bryanston home of a businessman. The sentence comprises 15 years each for illegal gun possession and robbery and five years for possession of illegal ammunition.
The criminal was arrested after his fingerprints were found at the scene of the crime which took place on the evening of 24 April last year.
At the trial, the court heard that Zondi, and two accomplices who are still at large, forced their way into the businessman’s home at gunpoint. When inside, they forced the chef to lead them to the owner’s bedroom, where he was speaking on the phone.
The robbers, speaking in Shona, a Zimbabwean language, and Zulu, told him it was a robbery and demanded his phone. He complied by giving them a Samsung cellphone and an iPhone. They then ransacked the house and took jewellery, six more cellphones, six watches, a computer, two tablets, £200 and $100 in cash, as well as clothing.
The businessman and some of his workers were taken to a back room where the robbers tied them up before disappearing with the stolen goods and two cars valued at R240 000. None of the stolen goods have been recovered.
