TWO notorious robbers who had unleashed a reign of terror at illegal crossing points along the Limpopo River where they were targeting border jumpers and smugglers have been jailed for an effective six years.
Admore Sangore (32) aka Pele Pele and Brian Moyo (27) were being accused of turning the river into their playground and were brought to court after robbing two people at knife-point. They pleaded not guilty to two counts of robbery, but Beitbridge resident magistrate Mr Toyindepi Zhou convicted them because of overwhelming evidence.
Prosecuting, Mr Ronald Mugwagwa said on 22 July last year at about 7am one of the complainants was walking along a footpath towards the Limpopo River near the spillway in the company of another man. The area is located about 500 metres east of Beitbridge Border Post. He said the two then hatched a plan to rob her. They then approached the woman and produced a knife demanding money and she surrendered R50 to Moyo.
However, the two threatened to assault her if she failed to surrender all her property to them. The court further heard that Pele Pele and Moyo then took a wallet containing R15 000, a cellphone, all worth $81 000 and fled from the scene. The matter was reported to the police.
The State said on 6 December last year, the two used the same method to rob another woman of R15 000 and a cell phone near Pagomo Lodge at around 6.30pm. After committing the offence Pele Pele and Moyo fled into the bush and they were arrested on the same day at around 5pm following a tip-off. They were busted at their homes in Dulivhadzimu and nothing was recovered.
