A photograph of a ruined SBV cash van from an unrelated CIT heist. Photo: @bonganig / TW
SBV employees get 30 years and must pay back R25m after ‘inside job’ heist
The Pretoria High Court sentenced former SBV employees to 30 years’ direct imprisonment for a 2020 cash-in-transit heist.
A photograph of a ruined SBV cash van from an unrelated CIT heist. Photo: @bonganig / TW
Five robbers, that included former SBV employees, were sentenced to 30 years of imprisonment by the Pretoria High Court for a cash-in-transit heist that occurred in January 2020.
SBV EMPLOYEES SENTENCED
Henrico Fourie, 39, Fannie Morris Mbuyani, 30, Jasias Lucas Maseko, 48, and Lazarus Ntlatleng, 28, were sentenced to 30 years of direct imprisonment for robbing an SBV cash-in-transit vehicle of R25 million.
The sentence came after Judge Bert Bam sent convicted them of robbery with aggravating circumstances, causing an explosion, conspiracy to commit an offence, possession of an unlawful firearm and possession of unlawful ammunition.
National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) spokesperson Lumka Mahanjana said the Pretoria High Court also ordered that the accused must “compensate SBV for the loss.”
Bekithemba Patrick Mbanjwa, one of the alleged robbers, was out on bail and did not appear in court on the day of judgement. A warrant of arrest has been issued for him.
SBV HEIST SUCCEEDED ON THIRD ATTEMPT
David Tolo, a driver involved with the accused, was granted indemnity from prosecution after he turned State witness.
It was revealed that the head of department of SBV logistics at Watloo Cash Centre – Henrico Fourie – recruited and conspired with two other SBV employees – Ntlatleng and Tolo – to rob SBV truck no. B157 along the N4 highway near Bronkhorspruit as the cash van made its way to Pretoria.
“Their first attempt was on 27 December 2019 but failed as they were no explosives, their second attempt was on 3 January 2020, but failed as they were no vehicles to ram the SBV truck and visibility of police on the N4 freeway. They only succeeded on the 3rd attempt, on 7 January 2020,” said the NPA spokesperson.
STRONG MESSAGE
A Mercedes-Benz vehicle was used to ram the SBV van off the road on 7 January. When the van stopped, the accused fired shots and Tolo and Ntlatleng were told to exit the vehicle.
Explosives were used and the accused took more than R25 million from the safe and shared it with each other.
“In court, all robbers pleaded not guilty to the charges preferred against them,” said Mahanjana.
State prosecutor Advocate Molahlwa Mashuga asked the judge to impose a severe sentence that would “send a strong message” as cash-in-transit robberies are quite prevalent in South Africa. He also stressed that three of the accused were employed by SBV and it was an inside job that was planned.
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