NELSPRUIT – Three of five men are expected to appear at the Witbank Magistrate’s Court tomorrow, 23 July 2019, facing a string of charges, amongst them, possession of firearms without licences, possession of suspected stolen vehicles and armed robbery.
Their appearance comes after they were arrested over the weekend in two separate incidents that took place in Witbank. In the first incident which took place on Friday, 19 July 2019, three suspects, one armed with a firearm, stormed into medical practice and robbed patients of their personal belongings including cellphones and cash. An off-duty police officer, who was waiting for his wife outside the premises, witnessed the robbery and managed to arrest two of the suspects and confiscated the firearm and a stolen cellphone in the process.
In the second incident which took place yesterday, police were alerted of a meeting that was to take place at a certain house in Extension 08, to plan a robbery. The officers proceeded to the said house and found ten armed men which triggered a shootout between the police and the suspects, two people were shot, one a police officer, who sustained minor injuries and the other, a suspect, who was shot and killed at the scene. Police managed to arrest three suspects and recovered four more firearms, an R5 rifle, a revolver and two pistols, five vehicles, three stolen in Gauteng and two robbed within Witbank.
Today, another firearm, a pistol, was seized at yesterday’s crime scene when the arrested suspects confessed and pointed out where it had been hidden.
The first two suspects, Vusi Nkosi and Nazared Maseko both aged 25 appeared today at the above-mentioned court and they were remanded in custody, with the matter postponed to 29 July 2019, pending bail application.
Police are making an earnest appeal to the community to assist in tracing the six outstanding suspects to contact Colonel Solomon Thobejane at 079 891 3342 or the SAPS Crime Stop number, 08600 10111.
The Provincial Commissioner of the police in Mpumalanga, Lieutenant General Zuma hailed dedicated members of the SAPS for the high number of firearms seized, totalling 18 since Thursday, 18 July 2019. The Provincial Commissioner appealed to members of the community to continue cooperating with the SAPS in creating a safe and secure environment.