Durban - There was no honour among thieves when a suspected Durban criminal was arrested after his accomplices tipped off the police - apparently because they were afraid of him.
Bhekithemba Gwala, 20, known on the streets as “MaBhiza”, is alleged to have been responsible for countless smash-and-grab crimes in areas west of Durban and on the Berea.
He appeared in the Durban Magistrate’s Court last week and was remanded to the Mayville police station.
He is suspected of being behind a series of taunting SMSes sent to police and the Mayville Community Policing Forum, daring them to catch him and saying they would never get it right.
Thabani Khumalo, of the CPF, said Gwala knew the police were looking for him, but allegedly continued to wreak havoc all over Durban, recently in the Tollgate Bridge vicinity on the Berea.
“He’d say: ‘If they do (come after me), I’ll just move to the next spot until I get to the sea.’ He was certain he’d never get caught.”
The CPF was determined to catch him and it formed relationships with some of his accomplices whom the CPF came to know after catching them committing crimes.
“We weren’t really sure what he looked like, but he knew us. It got to a point where he just had to be stopped. His friends would tip us off whenever they planned their exploits, but we’d always be seconds too late,” Khumalo said.
He said Gwala looked clean and dressed smartly.
“Some of his assistants turned into our informers because they said they were tired of this (life) and wanted to stop, but couldn’t because they were afraid of him.
“He would threaten them,” he said.
Police spokesman Jay Naicker said Gwala had been linked to a case of robbery opened at the Mayville SAPS.
“He was very problematic in and around Mayville, especially with smash-and-grabs and robberies. We suspect he is the mastermind behind most of the reported cases,” Khumalo said.
“A former Cato Manor cop tells me they were looking for him in 2011 but just couldn’t catch him,” Naicker said.
A Cato Manor policeman said Gwala knew
almost all the officers, even if they were in civilian clothing or drove private cars, and had managed to evade them.
“He was wanted for more than 20 attacks in Cato Manor alone.”
Gwala is also suspected of being behind a robbery on the N3, near the Botanic Gardens Road bridge, in which a motorist was stabbed and robbed before sunrise when he stopped after hitting a rock last month.
Last week the policeman said they had received information that Gwala had been knocked over by a car while allegedly committing a crime and had a cast on his leg.
“We passed the information on to the CPF who tracked him to Durban’s Early Morning Market and arrested him.”
Gwala lived in the Cato Crest informal settlement.
The Mercury