NATIONAL NEWS - Three men, who pulled off a brazen multi-million rand robbery at OR Tambo International Airport in March last year, had been handed lengthy jail sentences by the South Gauteng High Court in Johannesburg on December 3, Kempton Express reports.
The men entered the airport premises at 7.23pm at a restricted access gate, North Gate 1. The robbers gained access to the airside of the airport where they removed R24-million from a sealed container. The men, in two vehicles, then exited through the same point of entry at 7.45pm.
National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) regional spokesperson, Phindi Louw-Mjonondwane, said Sibusiso Job Mnisi was convicted of conspiracy to commit robbery and was sentenced to 15 years in prison.
Prince Raphael Dube was sentenced to 45 years after he was convicted of two counts of robbery with aggravating circumstances, one of theft and another of false representation for pretending to be a police officer.
Frans Mathabatha Manaka was convicted of two counts of robbery and sentenced to 30 years in jail.
Initially there were eight accused in the case after they were arrested in connection with the heist. However, the NPA later withdrew charges against four of the men, while one of the eight was acquitted.
In a statement issued on Tuesday, Airports Company South Africa spokesperson Hulisani Rasivhaga applauded the police and NPA on the conviction of three men.
“Airports Company South Africa (ACSA) is most appreciative of the tremendous work of the investigative team and the prosecutors in bringing to justice those responsible for this serious crime.
“The sentences imposed are significant and we hope that they will serve as a deterrent to those seeking to disrupt one of South Africa’s main ports of entry,” said ACSA.
“The company’s security executive has followed both the investigation and trial. Important insights have been gained into the planning of the robbery. We do appreciate that even the best security systems can be compromised when individual links fail to do their jobs or become corrupted.
“Shortly after the robbery, certain procedures were changed, and we have considerably expanded monitoring of every part of the security system both inside and outside of the airport environment.”
