Gang ‘spotters’ jailed for life

February 21 2011 at 02:38pm
By Louise Flanagan and Shaun Smillie
http://www.sundayindependent.co.za/g...life-1.1029745
Independent Newspapers
Jonathan Chauke and Peter Mthembu were nowhere near Anton Dippenaar when he was shot. But dogged detective work has linked them to the 26-year-old's death and has seen them jailed for life for their role in his|murder. Photo: Independent Newspapers



Jonathan Chauke and Peter Mthembu were nowhere near Anton Dippenaar when he was shot. But dogged detective work has linked them to the 26-year-old’s death and has seen them jailed for life for their role in his murder.
Their conviction is believed to be the first time “spotters” in a gang of associated robbers have been convicted.

Associated robbery is police-speak for gangs that specialise in following people who have withdrawn large amounts of cash from a bank, intending to rob them.
Last week, the spotters and three other surviving gang members were convicted by the Johannesburg High Court of murdering both a passer-by and a gangster.
And on Friday they all received life sentences.

It was an unusual case: the spotters were also caught and jailed; and although the robber who shot the passer-by was himself killed by police officers at the scene, the surviving gang members were convicted of both deaths. This follows the legal principle that those who take part in an armed crime are held responsible for any deaths resulting from it.

Acting Judge Gerhardus Hattingh called the killing “cold blooded”. He said the gang showed no remorse and there were no exceptional or compelling circumstances to prevent him handing down life sentences.

The court heard that on April 3, 2008, Peter Jonischkeit, 68, and Joachim Molthahn, 65, withdrew R10 000 from the Standard Bank at Woodbridge Mall in Glen Marais, Kempton Park.

Inside, Chauke and Mthembu watched the transaction, then left the bank and used a cellphone to alert their accomplices.
Jonischkeit and Molthahn arrived at their business in Kempton Park, where they were attacked and robbed by four men with guns.
As the robbers fled, they crashed their getaway vehicle into a palisade fence a few hundred metres away.

Passer-by Dippenaar had blocked their getaway with the bakkie he was driving.
The gang jumped out of their vehicle and one of them, Khaya Mfula, shot Dippenaar dead in front of his three-year-old son, and tried to take his bakkie.
Warrant officers Riaan Nel and Pieter van der Westhuizen were passing by when Dippenaar was gunned down.

One officer shot Mfula dead, and Christopher Williams, Papi Radebe, Richard Msibi and Floyd Adams were arrested. Chauke and Mthembu were arrested later.
Msibi died during the trial, leaving five accomplices in the dock. At the time of the crimes, they ranged in age from their 20s to late 40s. All denied guilt and denied knowing each other.

However, footage from the bank’s CCTV cameras and cellphone records helped to convict them, along with disputed statements they made, which were ruled admissible.

The cameras showed the spotters in the bank, while cellphone records revealed that the men knew each other and were in contact that day.
Judge Hattingh sentenced the entire gang to 15 years for armed robbery, 15 years for the failed hijacking of Dippenaar’s bakkie, and two life sentences for Dippenaars and Mfula’s deaths.
He denied them leave to appeal, saying another court would not reach a different conclusion.