Eastern Cape Provincial Police Commissioner, Lt Gen Liziwe Ntshinga has welcomed the sentence handed out to 51-year-old Lumnkile Manene and 37-year-old Zukile Vena who attacked two elderly women on a farm in Alexandria of the 29th January this year.
The suspects tied the wrists of both women with cable ties and bound their legs with packaging tape to the legs of their chairs.
They then ransacked the house, took an undisclosed amount of cash, a firearm and fled the scene with an Isuzu bakkie which belonged to one of the victims - who were left severely traumatised by the incident.
The speedy response by members of the Port Elizabeth Flying Squad resulted in the arrest of two suspects and the recovery of the vehicle approximately one and a half hours later in Motherwell.
Judge Bloem handed down sentence in the Grahamstown High court this week, sentencing Manene to 4 years imprisonment for Housebreaking with intent to commit robbery, and 20 years for aggravated robbery.
Vena was sentenced to 4 years imprisonment for Housebreaking and 15 years for aggravated robbery.
Manene had two previous convictions, robbery and escape from lawful custody and was on parole. He was released a month prior to the incident. Zukile Vena had 5 previous convictions, three for housebreakings, one for theft and one for robbery.
A third person involved in the robbery was shot dead by police on the same day. Mphathi Advocate Nkomonde was out on bail for a robbery on a farm in Somerset East.
