IT WAS like manna from heaven for looters who raided a business premises in High Flats, KwaZulu-Natal in July 2021.
An undisclosed sum of money was released from a safe, which was flung by some on the upper level of the Triangle Cash and Carry’s premises on Main Road.
When the safe hit the ground the windfall was quickly lapped up by those nearby.
Unfortunately for Nhlanhla Mkhize and his cohort who located, prised out the safe and flung it through the window, they were unable to get their hands on the splashed cash by the time they reached ground level.
Instead, Mkhize, who was regarded as one of the ring leaders of the supermarket looting that occurred on July 12, 2021, was convicted and sentenced last month for the related public violence charge at the Durban Magistrate’s Court.
He entered into a plea and sentencing agreement with the State, according to Section 105A of the Criminal Procedure Act.
The State was represented by prosecutor Surekha Marimuthu and magistrate Shoba Maharaj was the presiding officer.
Ahmed Mansoor, the owner of the supermarket prayed earnestly when roughly 100 looters descended upon his family business that had provided groceries and other essentials to the High Flats community for nearly 50 years.
Especially disconcerting for Mansoor was that some of the looters, who wrecked his business, were people who relied on Triangle for their provision.
According to Mansoor, the value of the items taken and damage done at his premises was around R50 million.
He said Mkhize also frequented his supermarket previously as a customer.
CCTV confirmed that Mkhize initiated the breaking down of the entrance door, which triggered the mob’s support, and this led to the eventual looting and destruction at the supermarket.
Bank ATMs positioned in the store were also raided.
Mkhize made his way to the upper level of the building, which was the administration block.
There he was able to free the locked steel safe with help from others and they decided to drop it from the upper level to the ground so that it could be carted away with its contents.
He received a 5-year prison sentence for the public violence charge, of which two years were suspended for a period of three years, provided he did not repeat the offence during the period of suspension.
Magistrate Maharaj ordered that the sentence run concurrently with the life sentence he received for his conviction on two counts of murder, attempted murder and kidnapping, stemming from a separate incident, after the July 2021 looting.
In his looting plea statement, Mkhize admitted to his involvement in the pillaging of the supermarket and throwing of the safe from.
Mkhize, a father of two, agreed that he “acted unlawfully and intentionally, and that his acts were of a violent and riotous nature within the scope of the July riots”, which was regarded as the most violent in the country’s history.
Mansoor said when the looters descended on his business premises, his hired security officials were overwhelmed and they alerted him.
He was preparing to travel to the supermarket when he received the alert and watched CCTV footage of the mayhem that occurred on his phone.
“Mkhize broke the entrance doors and the others followed him. I was saying my prayers at the time.
“Our security guards were powerless to do anything, even the members of the SAPS’ public order policing unit were not able to stop the looters.”
Mansoor said he was “very disappointed” at what had transpired.“Our business employs about 200 local people and we have had good relations with the community we have been serving with good prices since 1980.
“My father was a pioneering businessman in the area. He started operations here in the 1960s.
“The looting saw our many years of hard work going down the tubes.”
Mansoor said it took a while before they were able to restore their business and he was grateful to the National Empowerment Fund for the assistance provided.
He said although he hoped for a more sterner sentence for Mkhize, he was satisfied that the court matter was “over and he wanted to put the forgettable experience behind him”.
DAILY NEWS