QUEENSTOWN NEWS - Three men, Thabile President Manyatela (35), Phikolomzi Goodwill Mntonitshi (27) and Andile Mngqibisi (50) appeared before Queenstown Magistrates’ court on 11 January facing charges of murder, attempted murder, theft of a motor vehicle, attempted robbery, fraud, and possession of unlicensed firearms.
The trio was arrested by the Queenstown based Serious Organised Crime Investigation (SOCI) of the Hawks in collaboration with Gqeberha SOCI, Crime Intelligence Gathering (CIG), Dog Unit (K9) and Tactical Response Team (TRT) on 29 August last year. They remained in custody since their arrest.
Their arrest emanated from information which was followed up on the foiled cash-in-transit (CIT) heist in Kamesh, in Kariega on 28 August where a bystander allegedly was fatally wounded. After processing the crime scene in Kamesh, the Isuzu long base delivery van which was allegedly used in the foiled CIT was followed. The information about a silver and white Polo working with the Isuzu in question was also confirmed. The vehicles were followed departing Gqeberha towards Queenstown.
The joint law enforcement agents in Queenstown allegedly instructed the suspicious vehicles to pull over. Upon pulling over, the suspects reportedly started shooting at the police - three suspects were arrested when the dust settled. One of the suspects was injured and taken to hospital for medical attention.
Through a comprehensive and intensive investigation by the Gqeberha based Serious Organised Crime Investigation of the Hawks, the trio was positively linked to the Kamesh cash-in-transit robbery.
The matter is remanded to 15 March for a High Court date.
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