In a sh0cking incident stemming from a wage dispute, Josiah Saungweme, a 30-year-old man from Musi Homestead in Mutare, was sentenced to eight years in prison for robbery after he allegedly took his employer’s car and held him and fellow workers hostage.
On July 14, 2024, at approximately 9 AM, Saungweme confronted his employer at his workplace in Doornfontein Vantage, demanding his unpaid wages.
In a brazen act, he forcibly seized the keys to a beige Nissan X-Trail belonging to his employer and ordered both the employer and other workers into the vehicle as reported by ZimLive.
During this chaotic moment, Saungweme demanded money from his employer, who ultimately handed over US$260. Afterward, he drove off to Whitehouse Shopping Centre with his frightened passengers.
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While returning to Doornfontein from the shopping center, Saungweme displayed increasingly erratic behavior; he pushed one worker out of the vehicle when the individual voiced his concerns about their predicament.
Upon their return to Doornfontein, Saungweme purportedly exited the vehicle, retrieved a machete from a nearby wooden cabin, and forced everyone out before speeding off with the stolen car. Also in the vehicle was a Redmi cell phone belonging to his employer.
Saungweme remained on the run for nearly two months until he was apprehended on September 14, 2024, by detectives from CID Mutare at Bezel Bridge. He subsequently led the officers to the location where he had abandoned the stolen vehicle in the Wengezi area of Mutare, while his employer’s cell phone was recovered in Zvimba.
Initially facing a ten-year sentence, two years were suspended on standard conditions, leaving Saungweme to serve eight years behind bars for his actions.
