Pretoria - Four people who robbed and killed police major Abram Tselana, who was attacked after withdrawing R23 000 from a bank in the Pretoria CBD, received sentences ranging from 20 years to life imprisonment for his murder.
Three were sentenced to life imprisonment, while the fourth was sentenced to 20 years.
Tselana was the victim of an old scam - whereby a victim would be observed inside the bank withdrawing a large sum of money. The robbers would wait outside the bank for their victim, with one of them dropping a banknote or two wrapped around some worthless papers.
The victim would see the dropped bundle of money and as he picks it up one of the robbers would immediately suggest they should share the fortune as he was also about to pick it up. Once they agreed to share the money, the robber would lure the victim to a secluded spot, where he is robbed of his money.
In the case of Tselane, he was hit over the head with an object, nearly crushing his skull. His hands and ankles were tied together behind his back and he was left at a secluded spot near the Pretoria zoo.
His killers, Mandisa Mayezana, 25, Nkosinathi Ndlovu, 38, Zukisa Mablayi, 34, and Bheki Mhlongo, 67, all received additional jail sentences ranging from 12 to 15 years for robbing the major of his money.
They pleaded not guilty in the high court in Pretoria, but were convicted. The case moved to the high court sitting in Palm Ridge for sentencing.
Mhlongo maintained that he only drove his co-accused from Joburg to Pretoria on the morning of December 31, 2012. He parked his car at Church Square and waited for them.
He drove them back to Joburg and was paid R1 000. He said he had no idea what they were doing while he waited in the car for them.
Mablayi denied any knowledge of the robbery and said he never met the victim, nor was he ever at the spot where his body was found. But his fingerprints were on a municipal bill belonging to the policeman, found next to his body.
The other accused also denied any knowledge of the incident, but they were captured on CCTV footage inside and outside the bank and also as they walked their victim down Paul Kruger Street on their way to the vicinity of the zoo where Tselane was robbed and murdered.
Mayezana, who made two confessions after her arrest, got 20 years. She explained how the accused asked her to take part in the scam.
At Absa Bank in the then Andries Street, two of the accused entered and identified their target. She was told it was pay day for the police and a policeman would be the victim. They explained to Mayezana what the victim looked like. She walked next to him when a robber dropped the cash.
The two were seen on CCTV footage walking on the left hand side of the road, down Paul Kruger Street.
Tselana was never seen again. His body was recovered three days later near the Pretoria Zoo.
Pretoria News