Robbers fight 97-year jail terms

THREE Bulawayo men, who were each jailed for 97 years last year for masquerading as private transport operators in order to rob commuters, have filed an appeal at the High Court challenging the sentence.

Grant Chaniwa, 27, of Emakhandeni suburb, Tauya Rukani, 31, of Pumula South suburb and Mpumelelo Dube, 32, of Nkulumane suburb were convicted on their own plea of guilty to 11 counts of robbery by the then regional magistrate, Sikhumbuzo Nyathi.

Nyathi, who was last year fired for corruption, suspended 35 years on condition of good behaviour and that they repay their victims.

Bulawayo High Court judges Justice Francis Bere and Justice Nicholas Mathonsi, sitting during a criminal appeals court on Monday, heard how the trio pounced on 17 unsuspecting passengers among them a uniformed policewoman and robbed them of their valuables.

The three, who were part of a six-member syndicate which terrorised Bulawayo residents from February 3 to 14 last year, also forced a couple off their moving Honda Fit vehicle, which they were using to rob people.

In court papers, the three men are the appellants while the state was cited as the respondent.

Chaniwa, Rukani and Dube, through their lawyer Christopher Dube-Banda of Dube-Banda, Nzarayapenga and Partners, argued that the sentence imposed on them was too harsh and induced a sense of shock.

Banda-Dube said the lower court misdirected itself by not taking all the counts as one for the purpose of sentencing.

"There is a rational basis for treating the counts as one for the purpose of sentence. The proximity in time and the pattern of the commission of the offences satisfy the test. It is submitted that there is a rational basis of treating the 11 counts as one for the purposes of sentence as the resultant sentence of 97 years is so severe and shocking," argued the lawyer.

Banda-Dube said the magnitude of the sentence is disturbingly inappropriate, harsh and disproportionate and urged the High Court to interfere and substitute it with a lesser jail term.

"The effective sentence was supposed to leave a window of hope in them in the interest of both the appellants and society. I propose a sentence of 20 years with a suspension of five years on condition that the appellants account for the property which was not recovered," he said.

Nokuthaba Ngwenya for the state concurred with the defence counsel.

"It is conceded that the court-a-quo misdirected itself by not ordering some counts to run concurrently. The trial magistrate in his response to the notice of appeal shows that he adopted a mathematical approach to sentencing. In my view it's a misdirection and the trial magistrate erred by failing to come up with a sentence that is realistic as it is manifestly excessive and induces a sense of shock," said Ngwenya.

She proposed a sentence of 32 years with five years being suspended on condition of good behaviour and another five years on condition that the trio restitutes the victims $3,318.

The judges said the crimes were planned and committed in aggravating circumstances. They reserved their judgment to a later date.Chaniwa, Rukani, and Dube said they were unemployed and had to engage in crime to fend for their families.In his ruling, Nyathi said the crimes committed by the three traumatised passengers who use pirate taxis.

The court heard that on February 3 last year at around 8PM, Shepherd Murowa boarded the three men's vehicle heading to Mpopoma suburb. He sat on the back seat and Chaniwa was driving while Rukani and Dube pretended to be fellow passengers in the car.On their way, Chaniwa requested to drop off a client at a house in Tshabalala suburb.

After diverting, he parked at a dark spot and the three men robbed Murowa of an iphone and $8. The following day, the three picked up two women at around 9PM along Robert Mugabe Way in the city centre. The two women were looking for lifts to Morningside and Famona suburbs.Along the way they stopped on the side of the road.

They slapped the women demanding cash and cellphones. The women surrendered a Samsung galaxy Note 3, an iPad, HP laptop, $30 and personal documents.The women managed to open the car doors and escaped into the darkness. The three robbers met their fourth victim along the Bulawayo-Harare Highway on February 6 shortly after10PM.

The man was also looking for lifts. Along the way Chaniwa said there was a police roadblock near Cecil Avenue and he wanted to evade it by diverting into a road that leads to Parklands suburb. As soon as the car turned, Rukani slapped the man and together with his accomplices they robbed him of his two phones and a tablet.

The court heard that on February 7 at 8PM, a couple boarded the vehicle heading to Pumula South from the city. Rukani who was standing outside the vehicle pretended to be a commuter and also jumped into the car with the couple.

When the vehicle was near the intersection of Masiyephambili Drive, Rukani suddenly hit the man with a hard object on his right eye and the man retaliated. Dube then produced a knife and held it against the man's neck and demanded money.Chaniwa also produced a knife while driving and threatened to harm the man's wife.

The trio robbed the couple of three phones and $185. Dube then jumped from his seat onto the boot and opened it while Rukani opened the left rear passenger's door and pushed the couple out while the car was still in motion.

An hour later, the trio gave a lift to a uniformed policewoman who was heading to Cowdray Park suburb.

They picked the cop along 6th Avenue and when they got to Matshobana traffic lights, Chaniwa requested to drop off a passenger at a house in the suburb.

While in the suburb, they stopped the car and Rukani shut the cop's mouth with his palm and told her to cooperate for them not to kill her. They robbed her of a phone, $130 and a new pair of jeans. She was then ordered to leave the car before they sped off.