Three escaped convicts sentenced to 15 years imprisonment

Three convicts who escaped from the Whittlesea Correctional Services Centre in August 2020, were sentenced by the Whittlesea Magistrate’s Court for armed robbery with aggravating circumstances and escape from lawful custody. 

Eastern Cape Hawks provincial spokesperson, Warrant Officer Ndiphiwe Mhlakuvana, said the trio were sentenced on March 7. 

On the day of the escape, Khanyiso Dlali (26), Lundi Mzimkhulu (36) and Sibusiso Nzuzo (40) one of the inmates managed to disarm a prison guard. 

“On August 14, 2020, the trio escaped from Whittlesea Correctional Services where they were incarcerated. During the incident, the prison warders were busy closing the prison doors straight after the inmates were coming from the exercises. After that, wardens heard someone knocking at the door and they quickly opened where they noticed the scuffles between inmates and wardens as a result one of the inmates forcefully disarmed the warden his service pistol,” Mhlakuvana said.   

Furthermore, he said, the wardens were pointed with a firearm and ordered to hand over the cell keys, their cell phones as well as their uniform. 

The inmates reportedly locked the wardens inside the toilet and escaped. 

A manhunt was launched on the same day resulting in their re-arrest three months later. 

The arrests were affected by an integrated operation of the Queenstown based Serious Organised Crime Investigation team of the Hawks and Tactical Response Team, he said. 

Nzuzo had been arrested for murder, Dlali for rape and Mzimkhulu for a cash-in-transit heist robbery prior their escape from Whittlesea. 

They remained in custody for the duration of their trial. 

“Dlali was found guilty on one count of escaping from lawful custody and was sentenced to five years imprisonment. Mzimkhulu and Nzuzo on count one of robbery with aggravated circumstances were sentenced to 15 years imprisonment each and on count two escaping from lawful custody sentenced to eight years imprisonment each. The implication is that the duo will each serve a period of 15 years each behind bars as both counts will run concurrently,” Mhlakuvana said. 

Provincial Head of the Hawks, Major General Obed Ngwenya, applauded the investigating team for their determination in making sure the re-arrest of the trio.