MUTARE – A 30-year-old Mutare man angered by his unpaid wages took the unorthodox decision to seize his employer’s car before forcing him and fellow workers into the vehicle which he drove away with his frightened occupants, later dumping them and disappearing with the car.
For taking matters into his own hands, Josiah Saungweme, from Musi Homestead, in Mutare was dragged before a Mutare magistrate who later slapped him with an 8-year jail term for robbery.
During trial, the court heard that on 14 July this year and at around 9am, Saungweme accosted his employer at his workplace in Doornfontein Vantage demanding his unpaid wages.
“He forcibly took the complainant’s car keys (a beige Nissan X-Trail), and compelled the complainant and other workers into the vehicle before demanding money from the complainant who surrendered US$260.
“Thereafter, he drove the vehicle to Whitehouse Shopping Centre,” said the National Prosecuting Authority of Zimbabwe (NPAZ) in a statement.
On the way back from Whitehouse Shopping Centre, the court further heard, Saungweme pushed one of the workers out of the vehicle when he complained about his unruly behaviour.
Upon arriving back at Doornfontein, he disembarked from the vehicle, went inside a wooden cabin where he retrieved a machete, forced everyone out of the vehicle before driving away.
Inside the stolen motor vehicle was a Redmi cell phone belonging to his employer.
After nearly two months on the run, Saungweme was finally arrested on 14 September 2024 by detectives from CID Mutare at Bezel Bridge.
He led the detectives to the recovery of the motor vehicle which was dumped in Wengezi area, Mutare.
The cell phone was recovered in Zvimba. The value of the vehicle is US$5000.
He was sentenced to 10 years. Two years was suspended on the usual conditions. He will spend 8 years in prison.
