Robber shops till he drops

2008-02-01 21:22

Johannesburg - Within hours of allegedly taking part in a robbery in which a bystander was wounded in a shooting at a petrol station, a robber had spent R5 400, mostly on clothes, the Pietermartizburg High Court heard on Friday.

Items bought were a pair of Italian woman's plastic sandals for R2 499, a pair of man's trousers for R895, a long-sleeved golf shirt for R900, and gun oil for R40.

The buyer was accused Sydney Yende, 31, whose suitcase was seized by the police at a house in Durban.

In the suitcase, police found the purchases and cash slips showing they were bought within hours of a robbery at the Oasis Service Station at Cato Ridge, between Pietermartizburg and Durban.

The robbery - in which R100 000 was stolen - happened in October 2005.

Yende, from Soweto, was arrested at his friend, Sipho Zitha's home in Durban on the night of the robbery.

Inside his suitcase police found an AK47 rifle, a pistol and a single bus ticket from Johannesburg.

Yende was also arrested with R6 000 in cash on him.

An AK47 and six other handguns were found in Zitha's home.

Captain Anthony Lockem, of the Durban Organised Crime Unit, told the Pietermaritzburg High Court on Friday that he and a detachment seized the articles and arrested Zitha and Yende on the night of the robbery.

Zitha and Yende pleaded not guilty to charges of aggravated robbery, and attempted murder of Coin cash handlers Stephen Dauth and Wiseman Nyuswa.

Bystander Colin Darby was shot and wounded in the incident.

Vuyasile Mazibuko and Wayne Ric-Hansen were also at the scene.

The men also pleaded not guilty to the unlawful possession of the two AK47 rifles, seven other firearms and 156 live rounds of ammunition.

Dauth told the court that he ran for his life as machine gun bullets spattered against a wall near him as he opened the garage's drop safe.

He ran through the garage shop for safety but as he exited the back door another man fired at him. Dauth fired a shot at him before his gun was seized.

The case would continue on Monday.

- SAPA