{"id":59457,"date":"2025-03-14T11:31:07","date_gmt":"2025-03-14T09:31:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/vistanews\/?p=59457"},"modified":"2025-03-24T12:06:35","modified_gmt":"2025-03-24T10:06:35","slug":"a-trio-appeared-in-court-for-murder-and-robbery","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/vistanews\/a-trio-appeared-in-court-for-murder-and-robbery\/","title":{"rendered":"A trio appeared in court for murder and robbery"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Three men appeared in the Welkom Magistrate&#8217;s Court on a charge of murder and robbery with aggravated circumstances that happened in the city in 2022.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The three accused, Sulakhe Lindelani Mthembu (24) and Elias Custadio Sithole (32) Elijar Sithole Mzondi (39) appeared before the Welkom Magistrates&#8217; Court on 12 March.<\/p>\n\n\n<h4>One of the accused is an illegal from Zimbabwe<\/h4>\n\n\n<p>The Hawks&#8217; Serious Organized Crime Investigation Unit in Welkom arrested the 39-year-old Zimbabwean national, Mzondi, who is in South Africa illegally, on 28 January 2025 in Tembisa, Gauteng.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The other two accused Mthembu and Sithole were traced then served with summons on 5 March to appear in court on 12 March.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-left\">On 3 December 2022, six people allegedly approached MTD Civils in Welkom,where they pointed firearms at the victims, tied them up and took optic fibre cables with an estimated value of R1 560 000<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"700\" height=\"436\" data-attachment-id=\"59488\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/vistanews\/a-trio-appeared-in-court-for-murder-and-robbery\/welkom-magistrates-court\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/vistanews\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/Welkom-Magistrates-Court.jpg\" data-orig-size=\"700,436\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"Welkom Magistrates Court\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/vistanews\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/Welkom-Magistrates-Court.jpg\" src=\"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/vistanews\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/Welkom-Magistrates-Court.jpg\" alt=\"A trio, one of whom is an illegal, appeared in the Welkom Magistrate's Court on a charge of murder and robbery with aggravated circumstances\" class=\"wp-image-59488\" style=\"aspect-ratio:1.3333333333333333;object-fit:cover;width:457px;height:auto\" srcset=\"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/vistanews\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/Welkom-Magistrates-Court.jpg 700w, https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/vistanews\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/Welkom-Magistrates-Court-300x187.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 700px) 100vw, 700px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">A trio, one of whom is an illegal, appeared in the Welkom Magistrate&#8217;s Court on a charge of murder and robbery with aggravated circumstances<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n<h4 style=\"text-align: center;\">One of the victims was fatally shot<\/h4>\n\n\n<p>One of the victims was fatally shot as he was coming from the site walking towards the warehouse.&nbsp;&nbsp;<br>A case of murder and robbery was registered, then referred to the Welkom Hawks Serious Organized Crime Investigation Unit.&nbsp;<br>The court postponed the matter against the three accused to 19 March for formal bail application.<br>&#8220;The investigation and tracing of the other three suspects involved in the same matter continues,&#8221; says WO Fikiswa Matoti.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Three men appeared in the Welkom Magistrate&#8217;s Court on a charge of murder and robbery with aggrac-vated cicumstances that happened in the city in 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