Four face court over Bulawayo robbery spree after company hit 3 times in one afternoon
Four men have appeared in court accused of carrying out 3 armed robberies at a Bulawayo company in a single afternoon, threatening workers with pistols and taking cash and Chinese currency.
The accused are Bobby Juwawu, 36, of Hillside in Bulawayo, Lerato Takane, 36, Forward Dube and Thabo Ndlovu, who are from Johannesburg in South Africa. They appeared before Bulawayo regional magistrate Ms Sibongile Marondedze on Friday, October 23, 2026, facing armed robbery charges.
The men were not asked to plead. They were advised of their right to engage legal practitioners at their own expense and to apply for bail at the High Court. They were remanded in custody until October 26.
The allegations relate to events at Vertex Aluminium and Glass on August 22. The court heard that the accused and other accomplices, who are still at large, entered the workplace shortly after 2pm, posing as customers. Prosecutor Ms Rumbidzai Gwishiri told the court that the first complainant was serving them when the men went around the counter and produced pistols.
“While the complainant was attending to them, the accused went around the counter towards her, producing pistols and demanding cash at gunpoint. They ransacked office desk drawers and her handbag, taking US$210 before dragging her into the workshop and the living cottages,” she said.
The men allegedly searched one of the cottages and took US$9,000 belonging to the company’s managing director. The money had been entrusted to the complainant, the court heard. The woman and other employees were then locked inside a room as the attackers left.
The group is accused of returning to the premises later in the afternoon. At about 2.30pm, another complainant was working in the workshop when the men allegedly came in carrying pistols. They ordered him to lie on the floor, tied his hands with cable ties and demanded money.
The attackers then went upstairs to the complainant’s living cottage and searched it. They allegedly found US$300 and 700 renminbi beneath his bed.
“They ordered the complainant to lie on the floor and tied his hands with cable ties as they demanded cash. The accused then went upstairs into the complainant’s living cottage, where they ransacked the premises and took US$300 and 700 renminbi, which he kept under his bed,” Ms Gwishiri said.
The complainant and other workers were allegedly taken into the cottage and locked inside. The man later managed to break down the door and report the incident to police.
A further robbery was reported at about 2.30pm. Another employee, who had been away from his workplace, returned and called out. The court heard that the accused were already inside the workshop and one of them approached him, saying he had been summoned.
The employee followed the man into the workshop, where he realised his colleagues were under attack. He tried to escape, but a suspect pointed a firearm at him and ordered him to lie on the ground. The complainant complied and was searched. The attackers allegedly took US$4,800 from his pockets.
“The complainant walked in front of one of the accused into the workshop, where he sensed danger after realising that his colleagues were under attack.
“He tried to escape, but one of the accused, who was in front of him, pointed a firearm at him and ordered him to lie on the ground. The complainant complied, and one of the accused searched him and took US$4 800 from his pockets,” Ms Gwishiri said.
The court account sets out the separate sums alleged to have been taken during the incidents: US$210 and US$9,000 during the first raid, US$300 and 700 renminbi in the second, and US$4,800 in the third. The allegations also describe workers being held in rooms or cottages while the men searched the premises.
The matter was reported to police, and detectives from the Criminal Investigation Department’s Homicide section in Bulawayo investigated. The inquiry led to the arrest of the 4 accused. The prosecution’s account also referred to other alleged accomplices who had not been arrested.
The Bulawayo case comes as another suspected armed robbery spree is before the courts in Harare. Chamunorwa Takawira, 33, appeared at the Harare Magistrates’ Court in October facing 10 counts of armed robbery relating to incidents in several suburbs between July and September 2026.
Court papers in that case describe alleged home invasions in which residents were threatened or assaulted and cash, phones, laptops, groceries, jewellery and other belongings were taken. In one incident in Houghton Park on August 6, the suspects were accused of stealing US$3,000, mobile phones, laptops, jewellery and other property. In a separate case on September 1, they allegedly entered a home carrying 2 pistols, a machete and an iron bar, took cash and household goods, then locked residents inside a bedroom before leaving.
Takawira was arrested in Seke after detectives tracked him down, according to the court account. He allegedly tried to run and was shot in the leg before being apprehended. He was remanded in custody and was due back in court on October 27.
The Bulawayo prosecution described a series of repeated attacks on one business within hours, while the Harare case involves separate alleged incidents over several weeks. In both matters, court proceedings have set out allegations involving armed suspects entering workplaces or homes, threatening residents or staff and taking cash and valuables.
In Bulawayo, the charges now before the regional magistrate centre on what happened inside the company’s workshop, office and living cottages on August 22. The four men remain in custody as the case proceeds, while police investigations into the other alleged accomplices continue.