Home | News | INYANGA AMONG 3 SHOT DEAD MOST WANTED

INYANGA AMONG 3 SHOT DEAD MOST WANTED

11/01/2023 08:43:00 Stanley Khumalo and Sibusiso Zwane

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MANZINI - Within 24 hours, three most wanted armed robbery suspects were shot dead.

Two of the suspects were shot on Sunday night at Hlutse, in the Lubombo Region. The other suspect was killed on Monday afternoon at Mahlabatsini in Matsapha. They were wanted mainly for armed robberies committed over a long period of time. The suspects had, according to the Royal Eswatini Police Service (REPS), been on their most wanted list for some time. It all started when the trio stole a white Toyota Avanza, which was parked at Mkhosi Township in Manzini last Wednesday. On Sunday afternoon, while the police were searching for the stolen vehicle, they got a tip-off that it had been making rounds in areas around Hlutse and they were quick to act on it. The REPS had in their Second Quarter Report for this financial year, reported that the theft of motor vehicles had escalated as they were stolen to be used during the commission of other criminal activities.

Meanwhile, among the trio was a businessman aged 58, who doubled as a traditional healer. The businessman, *Muzi is known to this publication, but will not be named as his next of kin are yet to be located. He was shot dead with a 40-year-old man on Sunday night. According to sources, this was after he, together with his acquaintances, were engaged in a shootout with the police, in particular members of the Serious Crimes Unit - Lukhozi, who acted on the tip-off. According to sources, Muzi and his acquaintances were spotted driving around Hlutse before Siphofaneni at around 7pm. The sources said members of the public alerted law enforcement.

Alerted

Meanwhile, the sources supposed that after members of Lukhozi were alerted about the presence of the suspects at Hlutse, they collaborated with Siphofaneni police. It was gathered that the police approached the suspects in an effort to arrest them, but a shootout ensued. Eyewitnesses said during the shootout, two of the suspects were shot dead while one of them fled.
The 42-year-old suspect who fled on Sunday night was tracked down by the police on Monday. According to the sources, while the police were tracking him through their sources, they recieved a tip-off that he had been seen walking around Matsapha and it was clear that he was carrying a firearm.

Later on, the source said the suspect was seen travelling in a vehicle at KaHlobile in Matsapha. They said the police followed that lead and eventually came across him on a one-lane road, which leads towards Prophet Vusumusi ‘Major V’ Dlamini’s church - Mountain of Salvation. The prophet is one of the people who witnessed the incident as he was by his church. They said the suspect was travelling in a white Nissan and the police from Lukhozi, who were travelling in a white Toyota Hilux GD6 double cab LDV with a canopy, used their vehicle to block his way.

Thereafter, the suspect, who had supposedly realised that the car was full of police officers, jumped out of his vehicle and bolted to an open veld towards Mahlabatsini. “A hot pursuit ensued and the suspect started firing shots as some of the law enforcers were hot on his heels,” the sources said. They said the law enforcers also fired gunshots at the suspect but missed as he disturbed them by firing shots at them and ran in a zig-zag manner. The eyewitnesses said at that time, residents of Mhlane (around Prophet Major V’s church) and Mahlabatsini, had come out of their homesteads and watched the chase and shootout from the streets.

The witnesses said the suspect ran for about four kilometres to the KaHlobile/Masundvwini Public Road, where he was spotted by police officers who were in a car which had returned to the main road. However, they said upon seeing the police car speeding towards him, as it came from the KaHlobile direction, he fired some gunshots at it while running across the public road towards rented flats a stone’s throw from the road.

Ran

They said the police continued to pursue him with their car and fired shots at him. When he realised that the car was closing the gap, he jumped into a thicket and he ran back to the main road. In the meantime, the police were still shooting at him.“He crossed the road back towards where he came from and he was spotted by some of the police who were chasing him by foot and they opened fire. We then heard some of them informing their colleagues that they should stop shooting and we believe that they realised that he had been shot dead,” the witnesses said. They said the police quickly used their vehicles, a police van (with police colours) and the one in which officers from Lukhozi were travelling in to shield the scene from community members and passers-by. After doing so, the sources said the law enforcers did not allow anyone to come closer, thus onlookers watched from a distance as the police took the suspect’s body to their van.

According to the sources, the suspects were said to have been on the police radar for the E90 000 armed robbery committed at Price Rite Cash and Carry Wholesalers on October 30, 2022. They were said to have been part of five thugs who held the management and employees of the wholesale hostage as they were armed with an assault rifle and pistols. During the robbery, one of the directors of Price Rite Cash and Carry Wholesalers was disarmed of a pistol which was loaded with 20 rounds of ammunition by the robbers. They were said to have also robbed some of the staff members their money and valuables. When this robbery was committed, the suspects were said to have been travelling in a black Mazda MPV seven-seater vehicle.

Shooting

They were reportedly also wanted for the shooting of two cash-in-transit security guards during a daylight heist, where E140 000 was stolen on May 5, 2022. The incident took place at South Gate Shopping Centre, Ngwane Park in Manzini. Worth noting is that the shopping centre is located metres away from Zakhele Police Camp and there is a space that was allocated for a police post. The heist was reportedly carried out by six men, who arrived at the shopping complex early in the morning. It was gathered that some of them had disguised as shoppers as they hopped from one shop to another, while others placed themselves in strategic areas within the shopping centre, including the entrance/exit gate, which is on the left side of the complex.

Chief Police Information and Communications Officer Superintendent Phindile Vilakati confirmed the shooting and the demise of the suspects. She said two most wanted criminals were shot dead on Sunday at about 8pm while at Hlutse. Vilakati said during the shooting, one of them fled the scene while the police recovered two firearms from the deceased suspects. She said the firearms were an AK47 assault rifle loaded with 12 live rounds of ammunition and a 9mm pistol loaded with eight live rounds of ammunition. These firearms, Vilakati said, were hidden in a stolen motor vehicle while at Hlutse. She said the white Toyota Avanza, valued at E200 000, was stolen on Wednesday, January 4, 2023, while parked at Mkhosi Township, Manzini.

Furthermore, she said a 42-year-old man, who was wanted for armed robberies, was shot dead during a shootout at Mahlabatsini on Monday afternoon. She also confirmed that the suspect was the one who managed to escape during the shootout which took place at Hlutse on Sunday night.
*Not real name.