Cape Town - “Take it. Take it!”, were the last words of Strandfontein father Grant Fredericks as he lay on the pavement, having been gunned down after he made a stop at a local mobile shop.
During the incident at about 8.30pm on September 20, 2016, he was approached by three men.
Fredericks was shot in the back because he allegedly took too long to hand over his car keys to the thugs.
The car’s number plates were changed and the vehicle was used in an attempted robbery at Trigg Jewellers in Cavendish Square the following day.
In the Western Cape High Court on Thursday, Judge Bruce Langa delivered his judgment in the case against Zingisile Kleinhans, Siphokule Bulana, Xola Nakumba, Themba Jilaji and Mongameli Dyani.
The men faced 12 charges, including murder, robbery with aggravating circumstances, possession of unlicensed firearms and ammunition, malicious damage to property as well as attempted robbery.
Judge Langa found Kleinhans, Jilaji and Dyani guilty of murder and robbery, while Bulana and Nakumba were found not guilty on those charges.
Kleinhans and Dyani were also convicted of attempted robbery, possession of illegal firearms and ammunition, charges related to the Prevention of Organised Crimes Act and malicious damage to property.
In his judgment, Judge Langa referred to the testimony of the State’s key witness, Leeroy Prince, a security guard who was on his way to see his girlfriend when he witnessed the attack on Fredericks.
Prince identified three of the five accused during an identity parade.
He told the court he saw a Hyundai vehicle driving past him at the intersection.
The vehicle turned right and parked at the petrol station. Prince said the occupants got out and made their way towards the shop He said he followed them. At the time, Fredericks was at the counter in the shop.
Prince said while he saw the faces of two men, whom he made contact with, he only got a glimpse of the third man.
“When the victim left, two of the men followed him to his car. The one went to the passenger’s side, the other two to the driver’s side. The driver got out of the vehicle and a scuffle broke out. The victim didn’t realise that the man at the passenger’s side had a gun,” Judge Langa read.
In his evidence in court, Prince said Fredericks was hit in the back. The third man walked towards an injured Fredericks and pushed him down to the floor.
“The victim shouted, ‘Take it. Take it!’, and the men went into the car and fled,” read Judge Langa.
Attempts were made to resuscitate Fredericks, but paramedics declared him dead at the scene.
Fredericks’s car was spotted by a police officer the following day outside Cavendish Square. Kleinhans was in the car and a firearm was found in the boot.
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