A self-confessed robber, who was about to be sentenced, caused a stir when he told a packed Malamulele regional court how his syndicate of robbers had used muti to confuse their victims and then later robbed them of thousands of rands.

David Rapitsi (41) and two other accused opened the lid on their shady world of tricksters, who pounce on unsuspecting people withdrawing money from banks.

The three men, David Rapitsi, Lester Mathonsi (26) and Daniel Shivambu (42), all from Tzaneen, were found guilty of theft and were each sentenced to a term of three years.

Their conviction is the result of an incident that took place at the centre of Malamulele, where a pensioner and politician in the former Gazankulu homeland government, Mr Edward Mhinga, had been robbed of R3 500 after withdrawing the money from a local bank.

It came to light during the trial how the syndicate operated. A member of the syndicate entered the bank to keep surveillance on unsuspecting customers who were withdrawing large amounts of cash.

After identifying the target, the syndicate member would immediately go out and inform his partner about the intended victim. The victim is smeared with muti, whereupon he becomes confused and is robbed of the money.

In this case, Rapitsi, who usually impersonated a police sergeant, entered the bank and spotted Mhinga withdrawing a large amount of money. He immediately went outside and informed Mathonsi, his partner in crime. Mathonsi followed Mhinga and smeared the muti on him.

Mhinga was told that muti had been smeared on him and he could soon lose all his money. Still confused, Mhinga was told that he was lucky, as a policeman, Rapitsi happened to be there. He was told to hand the money to the policeman to put it in an envelope before it could turn into ordinary paper. He was made to believe that he was being taken to the police station to make a statement, but was later taken to a veld in the vicinity of Malamulele hospital with his full envelope.

He was given a strict instruction not to open the envelope immediately, as the contents would change into paper. The thugs drove away with his cash and when he opened the envelope he was shocked to find only paper.

The quick intervention by the police put a stop to the syndicate’s activities. The description of their getaway car was circulated everywhere and it was spotted in Giyani some time thereafter. A high-speed car chase ensued and the suspects were arrested.

All the accused, who have a string of previous convictions, humbled themselves and asked that the court be lenient with them as they have told everything to the court.

The presiding officer, Mr Noel Maluleke, refused to give them a suspended sentence or a fine, as that would send a wrong message to the public and the complainants. Rapitsi and Shivambu, who had previous convictions, were also declared unfit to possess a firearm.

Those who attended were overheard whispering in approval of the sentence.