Fidelity and treachery

Update

GEORGE NEWS - Former George state prosecutor, Advocate Zukile Mqulo, is one of four men who were arrested near Plettenberg Bay on 26 July with 164kg of suspected stolen copper in their possession.

Mqulo and his three co-accused, Mandla Twala, Litha Alam and Monwabisi Godongwana, have since appeared in court and were granted bail of R500 each. A bolt cutter was also confiscated from the Toyota Quantum minibus they were travelling in.

Mqulo, now an independent advocate who lives in and operates from George, is representing three of the four cash-in-transit heist accused who were arrested at the Blanco turnoff to George on 19 July shortly after a Fidelity Cash Solutions vehicle was ambushed in Oudtshoorn.

Mqulo also represents the man who was arrested in connection with another cash-in-transit heist, also targeting Fidelity, in Knysna on 26 June.

During this heist a Fidelity security guard was gunned down and died on the scene.

The three accused in the Oudtshoorn heist who are being represented by Mqulo, are Sakhele Nkabi (36), Masixole Dolomba (27) and Simphiwe Matwa (41), while Lwandiso Lento (36) is represented by Bulelani Bans of Dercksens Inc.

The case serves in front of Magistrate Marvin de Vos and MP Heyns represents the state.

Accused worked for Fidelity

One of the above accused, Simphiwe Matwa, is a former Fidelity security guard. According to the Hawks, Matwa is one of at least two of the four accused who can also be linked to a heist in George in September last year where Fidelity Cash Solutions was also the target.

During the four accused's bail application in the Oudtshoorn Magistrate's Court that started on Tuesday 3 August, Hawks investigating officer WO Lunika Buqa said they have evidence linking both Matwa and Lento to a cash-in-transit robbery at the Thembalethu Mall last year.

At 07:00 on 3 September 2020, two armed men robbed a Fidelity Cash Solutions crew of a substantial amount of money while they were loading an ATM at this mall.

The robbers kidnapped one of the guards and fled the scene in the Fidelity vehicle before getting into a maroon Isuzu bakkie. This bakkie allegedly belongs to Lento. Nkabi's involvement in this incident is also being investigated.

Their getaway route into George proved to be a bummer for Simphiwe Matwa, Lwandiso Lento and Masixole Dolomba who were arrested near Blanco by the Hawks shortly after the heist in Oudtshoorn on 19 July. Photo: Hawks

Oudtshoorn heist

In the most recent heist, that took place at the Atlantic Oil service station in Oudtshoorn on 19 July, the robbers made off with R86 000 in cash. Matwa, Dolomba and Lento were arrested by the Hawks on the Outeniqua Pass at around noon, within an hour after the robbery.

Nkabi, an SANDF captain attached to the Oudtshoorn Infantry School, was arrested on 23 July.

All four suspects are facing charges of robbery with aggravating circumstances, possession of firearms, possession of ammunition and possession of a prohibited firearm.

The last charge was added by the state on Tuesday as one of the firearms' serial number had been filed off.

Written statements by the suspects, all from George, were read into record by their legal representatives on Tuesday morning.

The court heard that Matwa, a father of three, has been a part-time taxi driver since leaving his job as Fidelity security guard, but he doesn't hold a steady job. Dolomba takes care of his mother and disabled child. He is a mechanic in Thembalethu and has no previous convictions.

Although Nkabi stays in George, he has been a soldier at the Oudtshoorn Infantry School for the past 16 years. He indicated that he was not going to plead guilty. Lento apparently owns two taverns in Thembalethu.

The state opposes bail and the case was postponed until 10 August when the bail applications will continue.

Sakhele Nkabi

Still allowed to practise

Asked about Advocate Mqulo's professional legal status as an accused, George lawyer Charl Marais, of Marais Law Inc Attorneys, said when an advocate is convicted of a crime, he or she is only forced to cease representing clients once he or she is disbarred.

"The Bar Council or Legal Practice Council may bring an application to have such an individual's name removed from the roll and have him/her disbarred from practice. Only once disbarred must he/she stop acting on behalf of clients."

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National Prosecuting Authority spokesperson Eric Ntabazalila says after consultation with the office of the Director of Public Prosecutions, he was advised that "the association to which the practitioner belongs (the law firm, local bar society etc.) has the primary obligation to inform the Legal Practice Council that the legal representative has a pending matter against him while representing accused persons in another court."

Advocate Zukile Mqulo and three other men during their arrest near Plettenberg Bay on 26 July.