A man who was part of a gang who mercilessly gunned down a cop in a spice shop in Killarney Gardens has been sentenced to 67 years in the mang by the Western Cape High Court.
Luyanda Fuzile and his four co-accused were charged with robbery with aggravating circumstances, kidnapping, murder, attempted murder, illegal possession of a firearm and illegal possession of ammunition after Sergeant Nametso Molema was killed and another wounded in the GR Spices Shop in November 2021.
Fuzile, 37, who tried to get out of the murder charge by saying he was not the one who pulled the trigger, was convicted of an array of crimes through common purpose.
For the murder, he was sentenced to 25 years in jail.
He also got 15 years for robbery with aggravating circumstances, five years for kidnapping, five years for attempted murder, 15 years for illegal possession of a firearm and two years for illegal possession of ammunition.
The court ordered all the sentences to run concurrently, which means he will spend an effective 25 behind bars.
The sentence follows a plea and sentencing agreement, in which Fuzile confessed to his involvement in the crime.
Senior State advocate Aradhana Heeramun highlighted the issue of attacks on South African law enforcement officials, particularly in the Western Cape.
“The robbery and murder were planned and premeditated. The murder is a foreseeable consequence of the accused’s actions,” Heeramun said.
The court heard how Fuzile and his accomplices met and planned to rob the shop a month prior to the morning of November 26, 2021.
They entered the winkel and pretended to be looking for work.
When the owner, Christopher Green, and employee Rozande Scheffer told them there was no work and asked them to leave, they took out firearms and ordered Green to lie down.
One of them searched Green and found a firearm and R1 000 in cash. They also found R80 000 in his bag and took a laptop from his office.
While trying to gain access to the safe, police and security guards were alerted.
Upon seeing the cops, the skelms shoved the weapons into the backs of Green and Scheffer and forced them to open a shutter door.
When police demanded that they surrender, the skurke opened fire while using Green and Scheffer as human shields.
The police and security guards could not shoot back.
Fuzile and two of his accomplices managed to flee, while the one who remained behind shot and killed Molema and wounded another officer.
Fuzile was later arrested in Dunoon with R987 in his possession, which was believed to be the money he took from Green.
His four co-accused are still in custody and will appear in court on October 20.