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- A Limpopo man who stole six vehicles at a vehicle dealership was sentenced to 17 years in prison.
- Tsununu Ahmad Maphosa, 36, was sentenced in the Musina Regional Court on Wednesday.
- His co-accused, who is believed to be the mastermind behind a vehicle theft syndicate, is still at large after being released on bail.
A 36-year-old Limpopo man has been sentenced to 17 years in prison for breaking into a Ford dealership and stealing six new vehicles valued at more than R3 million.
Tsununu Ahmad Maphosa, 36, was sentence in the Musina Regional Court on Wednesday for burglary and theft of motor vehicles.
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Maphosa, who was denied bail after his arrest, was sentenced to four years in prison for breaking into a business premises, and 15 years for theft of motor vehicles. Two of the four years for the breaking in charge will run concurrently with the 15-year sentence, which meant he was handed an effective 17-year sentence.
This sentence emanates from an incident in the early hours of 9 December 2017.
Hawks spokesperson, Captain Matimba Maluleke, said Maphosa and his accomplices broke into a Ford dealership in Phalaborwa and stole six Ford vehicles – two Ford Everests and four Ford Rangers.
Maluleke said the incident was immediately reported to the police, and a case was opened.
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The case was then referred to the Hawks, which resulted in the recovery of five of the six stolen vehicles in the Masisi area, near the Limpopo River, on the same day they were reported stolen, Maluleke said.
He said the vehicles were intercepted before crossing the Limpopo River into Zimbabwe, and all the drivers ran away. Maphosa was arrested in the area with the assistance of residents while attempting to flee.
Nearly two years after the crime was committed, continued investigations by the Hawks resulted in the arrest of a man alleged to be the mastermind behind the vehicle theft syndicate.
Raymond Sibusiso Tshabalala was arrested in Gauteng, but is now at large after he was released on bail. A warrant has been issued for his arrest, according to Maluleke.
