“Our lives have changed drastically. Even when I drive around I am still scared something might happen, all because of this man.”
These were the words of Joburg businessman Ismail Yacoob Omar, one of the victims of William “King of Bling” Mbatha who has been sentenced to 113 years in jail for robbery and other crimes.
During the trial, Omar testified that Mbatha was giving instructions to the men who robbed him in 2009 while pretending to be police officers.
He told the court Mbatha already knew a lot about him, including the fact that he had three children and owned an Audi Q7 even though he was driving a different car at the time.
Omar was robbed of two laptops and a cellphone, but Mbatha and his gang also helped themselves to two firearms, four watches, jewellery, two handbags and R250 000 in cash from the victim’s home in Meyersdal in 2009.
After Mbatha was sentenced on Wednesday, Omar told the Pretoria News that his sentencing would bring some closure to his family as justice was finally being done.
“We are happy with the sentence, we just hope that he will not have an easy life in jail.
“It was tough during the trial because I was actually reliving the entire incident as it happened, but we are glad to see that it’s finally over.
“The trial itself has been hard on us, but we are glad that it is over. One thing I can say about him is that he does not fear God,” said Omar.
Police spokeswoman Colonel Tumi Shai said they were not ruling out the possibility of convicting Mbatha’s accomplices as he had not acted alone.
“We want to warn them if they are not already in custody that we are coming for them.
“We are not closing our investigation because he did not act alone. We welcome the sentence,” said Shai.
Pretoria News