IT WAS AN INSIDE JOB: 14 armed robbers arrested after US$174,000 heist (SEE NAMES)

The suspects were arrested days after the raid, which police believe may have involved people working at the mine. Three of the 14 are employees, according to details presented in court. The case has drawn attention to other recent reports of armed robberies targeting mines, businesses and homes across Zimbabwe.

The robbery took place on a Sunday. The suspects appeared before Regional Magistrate Sibongile Marondedze, who remanded them in prison as proceedings continued.

The accused are Donald Siwela, 41; Eliot Ncube, 26; Agrippa Gwekwerere, 35; Ross Sibanda, 32; Motion Fika, 43; Morgan Rabson, 30; John Dhanga, 41; Vincent Sibanda, 33; Joseph Mapurisa, 35; Tinashe Mapholisa, 21; James Zhira, 30; Learnmore Marange, 31; Praise Ringiro, 25; and Nkosana Shirichena, 25.

The court heard that some of the suspects were arrested at the mine’s elution plant after allegedly returning to re-process the stolen gold carbon. Seven gold-bearing carbon columns were recovered from one of the accused and identified by the mine as its property.

A shotgun was recovered after information provided by accused number nine, according to the account presented in court. Police also recovered US$16,250 from some of the accused. It is alleged that accused number 12 and another accomplice carried pistols during the robbery. A 9mm blank pistol was later found hidden in the bonnet of accused number 12’s Honda Vezel.

The case was prosecuted by Sibaningi Dube. The Shurugwi case details include the reported value of the stolen cash, carbon and firearm, as well as the items recovered after the arrests.

The arrests come amid several other armed-robbery cases reported in the country in recent weeks. In Bindura, three men were arrested over a separate mine raid on September 25. Police said Godfrey Chakawa, 27, Bwana Jumbe, 42, and Tombstone Gangata, 34, allegedly attacked two security guards at about 1am and took approximately 300kg of “pregnant carbon”. Three other people are reported to have been involved and remain at large. The arrested men appeared before the Bindura Magistrates’ Court and were remanded in custody.

In Harare and Kwekwe, detectives arrested Tendai Nzvenga, 39, in Mpopoma, Bulawayo, on September 30, after receiving information that he was hiding there. Police have linked him to three armed robberies involving cash and valuables reported to be worth more than US$1.2 million in total.

The cases include a raid at N. Richards Shop in Harare’s Graniteside area, where cash and valuables worth US$38,316, ZAR1,950 and ZiG74,370 were reportedly taken. A second robbery in Marlborough involved an estimated US$597,000 in cash and valuables. The third was at a cement company in Redcliff, Kwekwe, where the reported value of the stolen cash and property was approximately US$600,612.

Police national spokesperson Commissioner Paul Nyathi confirmed Nzvenga’s arrest and said detectives from the CID Homicide section had acted on information that he was in Mpopoma. In the same account, police said he had implicated Dingani Mpofu, 49, and Witness Hlongwane, 40. The two had been arrested earlier and remanded in custody. Details of the three Harare and Kwekwe cases were reported alongside the Bindura and Kadoma investigations.

Two people were killed in attacks linked to armed robberies in the Doneni and Battlefields areas of Kadoma between September 30 and October 1. Police said four male suspects were being sought. The first victim, a 24-year-old man, was shot and killed when the suspects raided a homestead in Village 1, Doneni.

The group then went to a nearby homestead, where they allegedly shot and killed a dog before taking cash and two mobile phones valued at about US$450. The suspects later went to Swerengoma Mine, where they allegedly attacked two people and demanded cash and gold. One of the complainants was shot and later died.

Commissioner Nyathi said: “The suspects allegedly raided a homestead in Village 1, Doneni, where they shot and killed a 24-year-old man. They subsequently proceeded to a nearby homestead, where they allegedly shot and killed a dog before robbing the occupants of cash and two cellphones valued at approximately US$450. The suspects later proceeded to Swerengoma Mine, where they allegedly attacked two complainants and demanded cash and gold. During the incident, one of the complainants was shot and later succumbed to his injuries.”

The bodies of the two victims were taken to Kadoma District Hospital mortuary for post-mortem examinations. Police appealed for information that could assist in identifying and arresting the four suspects.

The recent cases span several kinds of targets: gold-bearing carbon at mines, cash and goods at commercial premises, and money and phones taken from households. In Shurugwi, the recovery of carbon columns, cash, a shotgun and a blank pistol followed the arrests. In Bindura, police reported that a large quantity of carbon was taken from a mine, while the Kadoma attacks left two people dead.

Investigations and arrests have continued across the separate cases, with police seeking further suspects in Bindura and Kadoma. The Shurugwi case, meanwhile, centres on the alleged loss of mine materials and cash worth US$174,796, and on the recovery of some of the stolen property after the 14 arrests.