US$305k Fawcett Security heist culprits jailed 11 years each

Midlands Bureau Chief 

A Fawcett Security Company guard and an accomplice have been sentenced to 11 years each for masterminding the over US$300 000 cash heist in Gweru in 2021.

The third accused was acquitted following a full trial before Zvishavane regional magistrate, Ms Rumbidzai Mugwagwa.

The trio were part of a syndicate involving Fawcett Security Company guards who ambushed and robbed the security company of cash amounting to US$305 290.

Langelihle Moyo (43) was freed after spending three years in remand prison, while Bongani Mapfumo (30), a Fawcett driver, and his accomplice Blessing Lizhu (39), who was not employed by Fawcett, were each sentenced to 11 years in prison.

However, the magistrate suspended one year for good behaviour and another four years on condition that each of them restitute Fawcett Security Company with US$134 255, by August 29.

Delivering the sentence, Ms Mugwagwa said the suspended four years will be added to the effective six years in prison if the two fail to pay restitution to Fawcett.

She further asserted that the State had proven its case beyond any reasonable doubt, demonstrating that Mapfumo and Lizhu had conspired to rob the Fawcett cash-in-transit vehicle and got away with a pistol at the 243km peg along Gweru-Harare Highway near Connemara.

Ms Mugwagwa said that there was no incriminating evidence to prove that Moyo was part of the robbery plan or gang.

She ordered that the recovered US$18 780 be returned to Fawcett.

Prior to the sentencing, Prosecutor Vivien Chindedza argued that the court should send a strong message to would-be criminals by imposing a stiffer penalty. 

She described the robbery as a premeditated and brazen act, characterized by inherent callousness.

“The offenders have been convicted with a very serious crime of robbery, which was committed in aggravating circumstances. 

“It was no ordinary robbery as the perpetrators used riffles to threaten the lives of the security guards and heavily assaulted them,” she said. 

“The robbery was contemptuous and degrading to the victims, and the accused have shown no remorse. Therefore, there is a need for severe punishment.” 

The State counsel said the incident has left the victims with physical and emotional scars as well as jeopardising the future of their dependants, as they had lost employment.

It was the State case that on November 25, 2021 along Harare-Bulawayo Road near Connemara Open Prison, Mapfumo connived with Lizhu and four accused persons still at large, to ransack Fawcett vehicle loaded with cash.

The court heard that Lizhu and his accomplices produced an AK47 rifle and a CZ pistol, pointed them to Fawcett security officers Emmanuel Nhamo and Thomas Chisambatsi while ordering them to remain silent.

They then hit Nhamo with a spanner several times on the head since he was refusing to cooperate, while another accused, with a Tonga accent, used a metal object to hit Chisambatsi on the head.

The gang used a spanner to unlock the three cash box locks and started to load the money into their bags.

The court heard that Lizhu and his gang jumped off the vehicle, force marched Mapfumo and Moyo to the back of the vehicle, with their hands tied from the back.

During that time, one of the accused persons took over the car and drove into the nearby bush.

The court heard that Moyo then phoned Israel Mberengwa one of his superiors at Fawcett Bulawayo office, informing him about the robbery.

However, upon further interrogations by the police, Mapfumo who reported that they had been robbed by the police at the road block, changed his statement and implicated Lizhu as one of the robbers.

On November 26, 2021 Lizhu was then apprehended in Bulawayo after he called his wife Josephine Ndlovu to bring US$18 780 cash, which was confiscated by the State together with an Itel phone used to communicate in committing the crime.