A 25-year prison term has been handed out to one of the four men accused of killing Cape Town jeweller Charl Munnik, Cape {town} Etc reports.
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Ndyebo Dotwana was also found guilty by the Western Cape High Court of two counts of robbery with aggravating circumstances, and he was given a 20-year sentence for each count.
Dotwana was charged on 29 January, 2021, together with co-accused Sicelo Mase, Luyanda Lonzi, and Awonke Ziqu, for the homicidal robbery of Munnik Jewellers’ proprietor in Worcester.
The accusations against the four individuals were the same, although Mase and Ziqu also had further counts of illegally possessing ammunition and a firearm.
Mase, Lonzi, and Ziqu pleaded guilty and were each sentenced to 25 years in prison, while Dotwana chose to fight the State’s case against him.
According to National Prosecuting Authority spokesperson Eric Ntabazalila, the four guys came to Worcester to loot the deceased’s and his mother’s store, Esme Munnik’s.
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‘On the day of the incident, Mase pretended to be a customer and started talking to one of the employees while Lonzi stood closer to the door. Mase took out a firearm and started threatening other employees and the deceased’s mother who were all inside the shop.
‘Lonzi joined him and they both started wielding firearms threatening all who were inside. At the time, the deceased was asleep in a room on top of the store. Ziqu and another tall slim man who had never been identified or arrested in the case joined Lonzi and Mase inside the store,’ said Ntabazalila.
Ntabazalila explained that after hearing the ruckus, Munnik dashed down to the store, equipped with a weapon. A shootout erupted between him and the robbers, during which Lonzi shot Munnik in the head and stole his gun.
‘The robbery was captured on CCTV and the four robbers were seen coming out of the store and got into a blue sedan parked in front of the store. The blue sedan which had false number plates at the time of the robbery was traced to another accused who turned into a Section 204 witness,’ said Ntabazalila.
During the heist, they stole a weapon, a mobile and R60 000.
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The witness informed the court that he and Dotwana frequently borrowed each other’s vehicles. Dotwana borrowed his vehicle, which had a Lesotho number plate, the day before the robbery, without explaining what he planned to do with it.
Later, he spotted four unknown individuals at Dotwana’s yard changing the number plates on his vehicle and installing one with a Worcester registration number. He also saw a grey hatchback in the yard that lacked number plates.
He also stated that when Dotwana returned his car, he instructed him to get rid of it because it was involved in a heist.
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Picture: Charl Munnik/ Facebook
