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Eastern Cape police have welcomed the heavy sentences imposed on six men convicted for a foiled platinum heist in Port Elizabeth in 2011.
The men were jailed by judge Glen Goosen to an effective 140 years imprisonment on Friday.
The men, all from Port Elizabeth, were convicted on numerous charges including murder on the basis of common purpose.
One person was acquitted.
Six people, including a bystander were killed in a dramatic shoot-out between members of the police's National Intervention Unit and the gang, who were planning to rob a vehicle transporting valuable platinum to a local company.
Hundreds of shots were exchanged when NIU members, who posed as security guards transporting the platinum, came under attack from the men in Deal Party in November 2011.
Eastern Cape police commissioner, General Celiwe Binta, has welcomed the hefty sentences imposed on the men, thanking the courts for what she said was a job well done.
(Unathi Wana, 33, Mlungisi Patrick Ntsume, 37, Madoda Dopla Nube, 38, Luyanda Njokweni, 37, Xolani Edward Nanto, 37, and Vukile Ngcangisa, 50, were found guilty on the 20th of March 2014 in the same court. Twenty-eight-year-old Lonwabo Neti, also from Port Elizabeth, was acquitted on all 17 charges.
Wana received 30-years imprisonment for robbery with aggravating circumstances, unlawful possession of a fully automatic firearm, unlawful possession of ammunition, attempted murder and six counts for murder. Ntsume was sentenced to 33-years imprisonment for robbery with aggravating circumstances, unlawful possession of (a) firearm(s), unlawful possession of ammunition, attempted murder and six counts for murder. Nube is required to serve 23-years imprisonment for robbery with aggravating circumstances, attempted murder and six counts for murder. Njokweni received 25-years imprisonment for robbery with aggravating circumstances, attempted murder and six counts for murder. Ngcangisa was sentenced to 27-years imprisonment for robbery with aggravating circumstances, attempted murder and six counts for murder. Nanto received the lightest sentence as he will serve six-years imprisonment for robbery.)
