BAT vehicles armed robber gets 35 years in prison

For the period of 2014 and 2015, incidents of British American Tobacco vehicle hijacking and armed robbery were rife in the Eastern Cape.

CAPE TOWN, April 23 (ANA) – An Eastern Cape man infamous for robbing British American Tobacco (BAT) vehicles has been sentenced to more than 30 years in prison in the East London Regional Court.

In a statement, provincial spokesperson for the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (Hawks) Captain Yolisa Mgolodela said Vuyisani Xakatha, 27, had been convicted of seven counts of armed robbery and kidnapping, respectively.

She said it was reported that for the period of 2014 and 2015, incidents of BAT vehicle hijacking and armed robbery were rife in the province.

Vehicles delivering tobacco products in both urban and rural areas were targeted.

Mgolodela said the robbers would find a way of obstructing the BAT vehicles, hold the drivers at gunpoint, place the drivers in the back of the vehicle and drive off with them.

She said the robbers would drive to secluded areas where they would offload the products and load them into a getaway vehicle, leaving the BAT drivers stranded.

Mgolodela said the Hawks’ Serious Organised Crime Investigations team managed to link Xakatha to some of the crimes that took place in the Mdantsane, East London and Queenstown areas.

She said officers traced Xakatha to Cape Town, where he was already serving a 20-year prison sentence for an unrelated offence.

He was arrested on January 27, 2018, and pleaded guilty to his crimes on April 14, 2021.

“Xakatha is to undergo 20 years’ imprisonment for seven counts of kidnapping and seven counts of armed robbery, respectively. Five years will run concurrently with the previous 20-year sentence, which will make him spend a combined 35 years behind bars,” Mgolodela said.

She added that Xakatha’s crimes prejudiced BAT to the value of R520,000 (about US$36,000).

– African News Agency (ANA); Editing by Yaron Blecher