THREE men, who terrorised two Durban North families for hours before making off with their valuables in separate home invasion incidents in 2018, were sentenced to an effective 76-and-half years imprisonment for their respective roles.
Acting Magistrate Jackie Jonck handed down the sentences at the Durban Regional Court on Tuesday.
Gcinah Mbhele, 39, Sithembiso Ntsele, 39, and Khanyiswa Msomi, 37, were the accused in the matter.
Marcella Xaba is the complainant regarding the incident that happened on October 13, 2018. Xaba lived in Gemmell Place, Durban North. She and her husband went to bed at about midnight, and their three young children lived with them.
Their sleep was broken when three armed men entered their bedroom. Her two daughters were then brought to the room.
The robbers apologised to the couple, saying they thought “white people lived here”, and bound and gagged them and the girls before ransacking the house.
After spending nearly four hours in the house, the robbers made off with valuables worth about R100 000, including cell phones, items of clothing belonging to the couple, food from the fridge, laptops and costume jewellery.
An old computer with pictures of the Xaba’s deceased sister was taken despite her impressing upon them the sentimental value of the images.
While ransacking the house, the robbers gave Xaba’s husband a lecture on how to beef up the home’s security.
Four days later, Raylan Dunbar Kahn was at her then-boyfriend Alain’s home in Danville, Durban North.
The couple were asleep around 11pm when they were awoken by the sound of their bedroom door being opened, and the light switched on.
They noticed Alain’s German shepherd being pushed in by three black males wearing balaclavas.
Two of the men pointed firearms at the couple, and Alain was assaulted with the butt of a gun by one of them.
They continued to assault Alain, and at various times, they threatened to rape and kill Kahn.
The robbers found Alain’s safe, got it open and helped themselves to the diving watches and three diamonds inside.
After ransacking the house, they loaded valuables, including TVs, laptops and clothing, into Kahn’s Range Rover.
The robbers were at the couple's home for two hours.
Once they left, the police and Marshall Security were alerted.
A few hours later, the security company informed the couple that the suspects were arrested and they needed to identify some of the items recovered.
Only two diamonds and some of the other items taken were recovered.
As the robbers attempted to make their getaway, they crashed the vehicle into a house in an informal settlement in Amaoti near Inanda.
One of the robbers was killed during a shootout with the security officials.
The bullet-riddled vehicle was written off by the insurance company.
Xaba identified the robbers during an identification parade.
Ahead of sentencing, State prosecutor Surekha Marimuthu said while the court will be mindful of the accused’s personal circumstances, she asked that the suffering of the victims be considered, as they were left highly traumatised.
Like the Xaba’s, Kahn and Alain have since relocated, and their dog and cats died shortly after the incident.
Mbhele was connected to the robbery at the Xaba’s home and received a 15-year sentence for robbery with aggravating circumstances.
Msomi was the driver of the getaway vehicle and got a 10-year sentence for the same charge.
For the robbery at the Danville home, both Mbhele and Ntsele received 15 years imprisonment each.
They also received six years of jail time each for the attempted murder charge, which stemmed from the shootout with the security officers.
Ntsele, who drove Kahn’s vehicle, was sentenced to 18 months imprisonment for the resulting reckless driving charge and a further two years on the malicious damage to property charge, which is to do with Kahn’s vehicle crashing into the house in Amaoti.
He was also sentenced to three years imprisonment for assault.
SUNDAY TRIBUNE