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RIVERSTONE suspect revealed!

11/07/2012 00:00:00 LUCKY TSABEDZE

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MANZINI – Police have released the identities of the three suspects in the E1 million Riverstone Mall heist in which a guard was shot dead and another seriously wounded last week.

The suspects were yesterday identified by the Royal Swaziland Police Service as Papa Stewart, Nathi Motsa and Aaron Musa ‘Makaroni’ Motsa.

The three men are all Swazis residing in and around Manzini.

The Police Public Relations Officer, Superintendent Wendy Hleta, said investigations by the police revealed that the three played a part in the heist.

For the past week the police have been searching for the three suspects, who are now believed to be in hiding in the Republic of South Africa.

She said members of the public who may have information about their whereabouts can call officers Sam Mthembu on 7606 2316, Bizzah Dlamini on 7611 1943 or alternatively call the emergency number which is 999.

The three men are believed to have orchestrated the robbery in which William Tsabedze was shot twice in the lower abdomen, and Sibusiso Malindzisa shot above the knee.

The two security guards were employees of Cash Security Services.

Tsabedze died on his way to the Raleigh Fitkin Memorial Hospital.

One of the three robbers was injured on the leg and arm after he was shot by the security guard during the robbery last Monday. The robber managed to escape on foot from the Mall.

Yesterday, it was reported that the suspect, who was shot, went to a homestead at Lobamba where he was given first aid treatment after which he allegedly left Swaziland.

Police said one of the signs he could be identified with is his limping. Police have swopped on a family of Lobamba and recovered some o the money hidden in the ceiling.

Malindzisa was rushed to Milpark Hospital in Johannesburg, South Africa after his employer put up E250 000 for his medical bills. The police yesterday declined to draw any relation between two of the suspects who share the surname Motsa.

Killed guard was shot twice

SITEKI – William Tsabedze the security guard who was killed at the Riverstone Mall in cold blood last week was shot twice.

This was discovered yesterday during a post-mortem where it was found that his body had two gunshot wounds.

Commander Tsabedze was killed by three armed men who also shot his colleague Sibusiso Malindzisa before getting away with over E1 million in a cash-in-transit robbery.

The post-mortem was conducted at Good Shepherd Hospital by government pathologist Dr Komma Reddy.

Ten family members attended the post-mortem, which lasted for more than two hours.

According to the deceased’s nephew, Sabelo Tsabedze, the pathologist concluded that Tsabedze was shot once in the side of the stomach, just over the hip, and once in the back, inches from his spinal cord.

"After conducting the post-mortem, the pathologist concluded that my uncle was shot twice. We were given a chance to see the wounds on the corpse, so I can confirm that he was shot twice in the lower abdomen," he said.

"The bullet that hit him from the back went through vital organs inside his body before it diverted towards the thigh joint. There was little chance that he could have survived," added Tsabedze.

He further revealed that one of the bullets was extracted by the pathologist during the post-mortem, adding that the other bullet fell from the corpse while it was being X-rayed.

He stated that the family accepts the results of the post-mortem, adding that they are preparing for the funeral this coming Saturday after a vigil on Friday.