A criminally minded accused person came up with an intricate plan to steal an unsuspecting woman’s car.
Phuzukuvela Nkambule, stands accused of robbing a woman of her Honda Fit at Manjengeni.
Nkambule and his co-accused were caught travelling in a stolen motor vehicle a few days after Sibongile Khumalo and her minor child were attacked and robbed in the absence of her husband.
Apart from the motor vehicle, Nkambule and his co-accused are said to have stolen clothing items and working tools, some of which were in the car.
Nkambule admitted, when being cross-examined by the Crown, that he removed and replaced Khumalo’s car registration plate and tax clearance disc with the ones from his wife’s motor vehicle.
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However, he denied having taken part in the theft of Khumalo’s motor vehicle. He claimed that he was made to believe that the motor vehicle belonged to his friend’s client.
He only identified his friend as Gwebu, stating that he is a mechanic.
“My client requested me to check on his truck engine in Nhlangano. I requested my friend to organize a car so that I could drive to Nhlangano.
“Melusi Zwane said Gwebu had a motor vehicle from his client; however, it did not have a tax clearance disc and a registration plate.
I suggested that we replace the registration plate and tax clearance disc with the ones from my wife’s car, because we had no fuel to drive to Nhlangano.
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I did not know that the motor vehicle in question was stolen somewhere,” he said.
Nkambule told the court that he admitted having committed the offence, because he feared being killed by the police during the heat of the assault, when caught by members of the Serious Crimes Unit (Lukhozi).
The Crown further put it to Nkambule that evidence presented in court pointed out that the latter warned the driver against using other routes and further gave him directions, because he was fully aware that they were driving in a stolen car.
