‘Bright young men’ get 20 years in jail

THREE young men with seemingly bright futures were each sentenced to an effective 20 years in prison yesterday after they robbed a liquor store.

Their friend and co-perpetrator was shot dead in a shootout with the police.

The families of Chumani Gidane, 25, Mkhanyiso Bobo, 26, and Ntsika Williams, 25 – all of New Brighton, Eastern Cape – sobbed as the men were taken back to the holding cells in the Port Elizabeth High Court.

Their defence attorney, Hennie Bence, had earlier told the court that he was “astounded” by their involvement in something of this nature as they were well-educated and had bright futures ahead of them.

Gidane, in particular, was in the process of completing his marketing degree.

The men were convicted of robbery with aggravating circumstances, murder, malicious damage to property, possession of an unlicensed firearm and ammunition, and four counts of attempted murder, after they robbed a Tops liquor outlet in September 2015.

Their friend, Wongalethu Sana, died following a shootout with police and Gidane, Bobo and Williams were charged with his murder after it was found their wrongful actions had resulted in his death.

The court found that the men had acted jointly in the execution of a common purpose.

After sentencing, Judge Phakamisa Tshiki granted the men leave to appeal the murder conviction to a full bench of the Grahamstown High Court.

Bence said the accused were all first offenders and argued that compelling circumstances existed, which allowed the court to deviate from the prescribed minimum sentence of life behind bars.

Tshiki agreed, but said it still needed to be harsh enough to show there had been a loss of life.