Mandla Mbetha (37) was sentenced in the Benoni Magistrates Court and will serve his time in Moddebee Prison.
Mbetha was arrested after an incident on October 7, where he fled from a car.
Police arrested him and two other men and police recovered stolen goods in their possession.
Fingerprints linked the three men to three other cases of housebreaking, which occurred in Crystal Park in 2010.
Mbetha’s two accomplices failed to appear in court in 2012, after their cases were postponed several times, and are till on the run.
Crystal Park SAPS is still investigating the case and hopes to track the two remaining suspects as they are still on the run.
‘‘The station commander, Lieut Col Belinda Motaung, said she is very pleased with the outcome of the case, and commended the detectives for their hard work and effort in investigating the cases,’’ said Crystal Park SAPS media liaison officer Tryna Maritz.
which court? convicted of what?
– On Saturday 7 October 2012, the police were on patrol when they spotted a suspicious looking vehicle. When the driver saw the police, he jumped out and ran away, abandoning the vehicle. The police found a plasma inside the vehicle , and it was later discovered that the plasma was stolen at Bulbul street in Crystal Park.
– After following up on information, the investigation led them to Katlehong where three suspects were arrested, and some of the stolen goods were recovered. The suspects’s fingerprints were also taken and sent away for linkages with other house breaking cases.
– The suspects was indeed linked to three other cases of house breaking, which occurred in 2010 in Crystal Park.
– The suspects went to court on 09 October 2012, and the case was remanded several times and they received bail. Two of the three suspects never returned back to court, and is currently on the run. The police is still busy following up on information on their whereabouts.
– On Friday 20 September 2013, the remaining suspect was set to be sentenced. Mandla Mbetha, aged 37, originally from Katlehong was sentenced for five years imprisonment ,and he will be serving his sentence in Moddebee prison.
The station commander Lt col Belinda Motaung said that she is very pleased with the outcome of the case, and commended the detectives for their hard work, and effort in investigating the cases.
(The article I referred to was published in the Benoni city times of 19 October 2012 – “house breakers arrested”)
