16 Oct 2024

The prosecutor in the 2021 Turn Rite Mall robbery case, Mr Ambrose Mubika, has refuted assertions that the second accused, Thapelo Lekobe, was a passerby who was wrongly arrested. 

The prosecutor rebutted the accused’s witness, Emmanuel Ikanyeng’s statement on Tuesday that Lekobe was not part of the men alleged to have robbed G4S cash-in-transit vehicle at the Turn Rite Mall. 

“You know nothing about the robbery, you were not on a video call with the accused person on the day of the robbery, you were not with him on the day of the robbery, this is a fabricated story,” Mr Mubika said. 

He said the accused person had never mentioned to the police or the court that he had several video calls with the witness on the day of the robbery. 

“He never talked about the video call, o nosi rra mo kgannyeng ya video call,” Mr Mubika said, castigating the witness statement. 

Furthermore, he said Ikanyeng, who is serving a 15-year prison  term for murder, proved that he had no regard for the law, hence he could not be trusted by the court. 

However, Ikanyeng (35) who was convicted of murder in August 2022 refuted that he had no respect for the law, saying the court should regard his testimony as the truthful chronology of the events of October 13, 2021. Ikanyeng told the court that days before the event, Lekobe, who is his homeboy and confidant called him asking for his assistance as he would be travelling from Mmadinare to Gaborone to look for a part for his vehicle. 

He said Lekobe’s journey to Gaborone took off in the morning on October 13 and they had constant communication along the trip, which included several video calls. 

He said he instructed Lekobe to drop off at the Taung stop in Gaborone and catch a minibus to Mogoditshane, which he did, where he (Ikanyeng) would be waiting for him near a preschool in Mogoditshane. 

“Immediately after he alighted from the combi and took a few steps towards me, a group of men arrived. I am not sure of their number, they arrested him,” he said. 

Ikanyeng said the men, whom he realised to be the police, pushed Lekobe to the ground, searched and handcuffed him. He said the ordeal left him scared as there were a lot of people and vehicles involved, adding that he thereafter called Lekobe’s mother to inform her about her son’s arrest. 

Also, he said he called one of the police officers who was part of the arresting team who informed him of Lekobe’s whereabouts, adding that he then followed them to see his friend in police custody. 

“When I arrived there I found him soaked in blood, his T-shirt was blood stained and he said he had been assaulted,” he said. 

He said after some days, he went to check him at prison and Lekobe told him that he was arrested in connection with the Gumare matter where he had been sentenced in absentia. 

Also, he said Lekobe told him that the police said he was a suspect in the Turn Rite Mall robbery. He argued that there was no way his friend would be part of the robbery. Accused persons, Mothusi Matomela, Lekobe, Mzwandile Mazibuko and Ntholephi Elliot Ntshalintshali are charged with robbing a G4S Security vehicle on October 13, 2021 at Turn Rite Mall in Mogoditshane. ENDs