The Pietermaritzburg High Court sentenced three men to 15 years' in jail on Thursday for the R3.9-million armed of robbery of a Kokstad First National Bank.

Judge Thumba Pillay said the guilty men could only have been motivated by greed.

About 15 men using 12 cars were involved in the robbery in December 2003.

The ease and the military precision of its execution indicated the robbery had been meticulously planned over a good period, said Pillay.

Of the 15 men involved, some of have died while others have been jailed for other offences.

Pillay said he believed that a man from Johannesburg was the mastermind behind the robbery.

Among those sentenced on Thursday was Mzikayise Zuma (49) an induna and tuckshop operator who was married to a police inspector earning about R8000 a month. He was the man who linked the local robbers to the Johannesburg perpetrators.

Mphumelelo Lunika (33) of Lusikisiki, was a clerk in the bank which he helped rob. He abused his position of trust, providing the gang with vital information with which the operation could not succeed, Pillay said.

The third man, Sabelo Ntuli (31) of New Germany, near Durban, provided a safe house for the gang members, paraphernalia used in the robbery and a venue for the division of the spoils. It was an important cog in the operation.

Each man was paid about R70 000 for his role in the robbery.

Pillay said one would have thought that an operation of such scale would have made exceptional news, but the sad truth in South Africa was that large robberies were almost daily occurrences.

It was fortunate that none of the bank staff was physically injured or killed, but some of them received counselling at considerable expense.

The robbery was carried out by two men posing as businessmen who had an appointment with the bank manager at closing time.

As the robbers entered, the staff were made to lie down at gunpoint.

While some robbers loaded cash into cars, others took cellphones from the staff members.

Pillay said there were no exceptional and compelling circumstances enabling him to depart from the prescribed minimum sentence of 15 years' jail for armed robbery.

Sapa

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