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Nokusa Masuku Court Reporter
SEVEN men, part of a 15-member gang that robbed an Umguza miner of his gold and a pistol after attacking him with iron bars before leaving him for dead, appeared in court yesterday facing robbery charges.Thirteen members of the gang were employed at Friday 13 Mine in Umguza when they decided to pounce on their employer on December 3, with the intention of robbing him of his gold ore.

The value of the stolen gold could not be ascertained and it was not recovered.

The seven-Vusumuzi Ndlovu, 24, Freedom Tshabangu, 25, Jeremiah Mpofu, 57, William Chimbidzikayi, 28, Hanelitsa Ndlovu, 22, Johns Sinclare, 34, and Bukhosi Dube, 29, appeared before magistrate Sibongile Msipa, while eight others are on the run.

The seven suspects were not asked to plead and were remanded in custody to December 31.

The robbers allegedly broke into Themba Zondo’s premises at the mine around 11PM where they attacked and robbed him, before dumping him in the bush while he was unconscious.

Magistrate Msipa said a kidnapping charge should have also been preferred against the robbers.

“Why isn’t there a charge of kidnapping here? How did he wake up 200m away from his mine, how did that happen?” asked the magistrate.

However, investigators felt robbery charges seemed more relevant.

For the state, Charles Danda told the court that Dube masterminded the robbery.

The court heard that the men teamed up with eight others who are on the run and went to the mine armed with iron bars, stones and logs.

On arrival, they found Zondo, his young brother and one of his employees sleeping in the kitchen shed.

Zondo had in his possession a licensed firearm and his cellphone. The gang attacked the three, but Zondo’s younger brother and one of the employees managed to escape.

The gang continued to assault Zondo until he fell unconscious. They then stole his firearm and cellphone, before going inside the mine shaft where they extracted gold ore and left.

The court heard that Zondo later gained consciousness and discovered that he had been dumped in the bush about 200m away from his mine.

He reported the matter to the police, leading to the arrest of three suspects: Vusumuzi, Tshabangu and Mpofu who implicated the rest of the gang.

The stolen firearm and cellphone were recovered by the police. The value of stolen gold could not be ascertained and it was not recovered.