One among a group of suspected robbers who targeted a jewellery store at Somerset Mall in Somerset West in 2020 was sentenced in the Bellville Magistrates’ Court last week.
The accused, Sakhile Thabo Valisi, a 33-year-old from Delft, was sentenced to 26 years imprisonment for business robbery, attempted murder, possession of stolen property, possession of a stolen motor vehicle, defeating the ends of justice and resisting arrest last Wednesday (29 March).
He was among a suspected group of five or six armed robbers who pounced on the Somerset Mall jewellery store African Diamond at 10:20 on Tuesday 11 August 2020. DistrictMail previously reported on the heist, which resulted in a high-speed chase and shoot-out with police (“Jewel ‘thieves’ swoop in,” 13 August 2020). Somerset West police confirmed the men armed with firearms and a crowbar targeted the store. They smashed a display window, threatened staff who were forced into a back room and made off with jewellery.
It is believed the suspects fled in a white Audi, which was pursued by police and authorities on the N2.
It ended with the getaway vehicle landing in a ditch along the highway outside Khayelitsha.
A suspect was shot dead and 31-year-old suspect, Valisi, who was wounded in the leg and arm, was hospitalised under police guard.
The other suspects managed to evade arrest by fleeing on foot. A firearm and some jewellery items were found in the vehicle.
Police initially opened a case of business robbery, while the Independent Police Investigative Directorate launched its own investigation into the shooting.
A media statement by provincial police on Friday (31 March) confirmed Valisi appeared in the Bellville Commercial Court on Friday 24 March and was found guilty on all counts.
The Western Cape police management has welcomed the sentencing and lauded the arresting officers and detectives for a job well done.
