Durban — A Durban motorist has welcomed the sentence handed to two men convicted for his hijacking and robbery.
Nkosingiphile Makhoba, 29 and Khanyiso Mahlulele, 32, were recently handed sentences of 15 years each for the hijacking and five each for the robbery by the Durban Magistrate’s Court.
The motorist, who preferred not to be named, said till today he does not know how he could explain that he was alive.
“It was a traumatic experience for myself and the woman I had been with. They took us in the car to a sugar cane field behind Cornubia. They showed no sign of being human, I don’t know if they had been high on something but what they did that day was inhumane,” he said.
The complainant had just parked his vehicle outside his house in Greenwood Park with his girlfriend when he was approached by five men who pointed firearms at them, robbed them of their valuables and forcefully removed them from his vehicle.
A month later the Port Shepstone Public Order Police recovered the vehicle along with the two suspects. A case of being found with stolen property was opened. After appearing in court the two accused were remanded to the Greenwood Park SAPS for further investigation.
It was after an identification parade was held that the complainant was able to identify both accused as the hijackers.
The hijack victim said he was satisfied with the 15 years’ imprisonment handed to the two. He said on the day of the hijacking, he had thought they were going to be killed and left in the sugar cane field.
“They had guns, it was around 1am when we were there with them in the field, it was dark and the only thing going through my head was how my family would find my body, how would they know that I had been killed here.”
He said somehow the suspects ended up arguing about what they would do with him and his girlfriend.
“They drove off leaving us there. I then followed a small gravel road from where they had left us. I saw lights ahead and as I approached I saw it was a company and there were securities at the gate. I approached the securities for help.”
He said for a month after the hijacking his girlfriend was still traumatised by the ordeal.
“It took some time to get over the trauma. After the hijacking I was always on edge and I always think about how I could have been killed and my family never finding my body. The sentence they got is satisfactory to me because all I wanted was for them to get caught and for them to face recourse of some sort.”
Police spokesperson Colonel Robert Netshiunda said Makhoba and Mahlulele would spend the next 20 years of their lives facing prison walls after they were found guilty in the Durban Magistrate’s Court of carjacking and possession of a stolen vehicle.
Netshiunda said a couple had just parked their vehicle outside their home in Greenwood Park on the night of November 27, 2021, when they were approached by Makhoba and Mahlulele who robbed them of their belongings at gunpoint, before taking away their vehicle forcefully.
He added that nine days later the two men were arrested by Public Order Policing members in Port Shepstone, and were found in possession of the hijacked vehicle.
“Investigating officer Detective Sergeant Nhlanhla Mhlongo pulled out all stops and managed to keep the suspects in custody. His meticulous investigative skills proved the case beyond any reasonable doubt and ensured that justice was duly served,” Netshiunda said.
Daily News