Police give account of escapees’ flight

A COURT appearance on Friday signalled the end of a momentous week for the five men who escaped from Windhoek Central Prison in the early hours of Monday last week.

Four days after they had managed to break out of Namibia’s largest jail and make their way to the Caprivi Region before being caught, the five escapees were brought to the Windhoek Magistrate’s Court in handcuffs to make a first appearance before a Magistrate on a charge of escaping from prison. In a brief appearance before Magistrate Suzette Walters, each of them indicated that he wanted to apply to the Directorate of Legal Aid to be provided with legal representation, before the Magistrate postponed their case to February 6 for further investigation and their legal aid applications to be processed.Not surprisingly, it was ordered that the five should remain in custody in the meantime.After the court appearance of the five – Gavin Beukes (26), who is on trial in the High Court on eight counts of murder and seven other charges in connection with the killing of eight people at farm Kareeboomvloer between Rehoboth and Kalkrand in early March 2005, child murder and rape suspect Deon Engelbrecht (23), murder suspect Morris Mazila Sibitwani (29) and Zimbabwean bank robbery suspects Mthulisi Sibanda (27) and Nesias Matole (33) – the most detailed account yet of their flight was given by Police spokesperson Warrant Officer Kauna Shikwambi.According to Shikwambi, the five have told Police officers who questioned them that after their escape between 02h00 and 03h00 on Monday, they went to a service station close to Katutura, where they boarded a bus that took them to Tsumeb.There were still six of them at that stage, with another Zimbabwean bank robbery suspect, Plan Ndebele (31), with them.They apparently had enough money with them to pay for the trip to Tsumeb and what was to follow.Having arrived at Tsumeb between 10h00 and 11h00, one of the five, Matole, bought a cellphone, and another, Sibitwani, arranged for transport that was to take them further, Shikwambi related.The group left Tsumeb around 15h00 on Monday in a Toyota sedan vehicle whose driver was to take them to the Caprivi Region, she said.At the Mururani Gate checkpoint on the boundary of the Kavango Region, the six escapees instructed the driver of the vehicle to drop them before the checkpoint, after which they walked around the checkpoint and were picked up again on the other side, Shikwambi said.The cellphone bought at Tsumeb was used to communicate with the driver, she said.The same tactic was to be followed at the Divundu checkpoint, about 500 kilometres from Tsumeb.There, however, the Okavango River presented the escapees with an additional natural obstacle.It was an obstacle that would prove to be a deadly one.Having been dropped off before that checkpoint, the six walked about a kilometre and a half in the direction of the bridge over the river, and found four dugout canoes next to the river, Shikwambi said.Their plan was to use these to cross the river, but only Sibitwani – who is from the Caprivi Region – had experience in using this type of transport.He and Engelbrecht crossed the river in one canoe, and then disaster struck.The canoe in which Matole and Ndebele were to cross capsized and only Matole managed to swim back to the river bank, Shikwambi said.Ndebele’s body was found downstream from Bagani on Thursday last week.According to what the Police officers were told during their interrogation of the five, Matole and Sibanda were so terrified by the fate that had befallen their compatriot that they decided to rather risk crossing the river by walking over the bridge, where they had to pass through another checkpoint.Beukes in the meantime crossed the Okavango with Sibitwani in a canoe, with Sibitwani using his hands to row across the river, Shikwambi related.They were again picked up by the vehicle that had driven them from Tsumeb, and were then dropped off at Sisuwe, west of the Kwando River and before yet another checkpoint at Kongola, around 08h00 on Tuesday, the Police have been told.They tried to cross the Kwando but decided that the river was too deep, and chose to wait for the night and try to cross then, Shikwambi said.In the meantime, though, they had been spotted by nature conservation officials in the area.With the Police having been alerted, a joint team of Police and Namibia Defence Force members and nature conservation officials launched a search for the five in the area, Shikwambi said.They were rounded up one by one, with the first one arrested around 11h00 on Tuesday and the last one caught by about 15h00, she said.About N$800 was found with the five after their arrest.According to the escapees, the Zimbabweans’ plan was to return to Zimbabwe, while the three Namibians planned to go into hiding in Zambia, Shikwambi said.In a brief appearance before Magistrate Suzette Walters, each of them indicated that he wanted to apply to the Directorate of Legal Aid to be provided with legal representation, before the Magistrate postponed their case to February 6 for further investigation and their legal aid applications to be processed.Not surprisingly, it was ordered that the five should remain in custody in the meantime.After the court appearance of the five – Gavin Beukes (26), who is on trial in the High Court on eight counts of murder and seven other charges in connection with the killing of eight people at farm Kareeboomvloer between Rehoboth and Kalkrand in early March 2005, child murder and rape suspect Deon Engelbrecht (23), murder suspect Morris Mazila Sibitwani (29) and Zimbabwean bank robbery suspects Mthulisi Sibanda (27) and Nesias Matole (33) – the most detailed account yet of their flight was given by Police spokesperson Warrant Officer Kauna Shikwambi.According to Shikwambi, the five have told Police officers who questioned them that after their escape between 02h00 and 03h00 on Monday, they went to a service station close to Katutura, where they boarded a bus that took them to Tsumeb.There were still six of them at that stage, with another Zimbabwean bank robbery suspect, Plan Ndebele (31), with them.They apparently had enough money with them to pay for the trip to Tsumeb and what was to follow.Having arrived at Tsumeb between 10h00 and 11h00, one of the five, Matole, bought a cellphone, and another, Sibitwani, arranged for transport that was to take them further, Shikwambi related.The group left Tsumeb around 15h00 on Monday in a Toyota sedan vehicle whose driver was to take them to the Caprivi Region, she said.At the Mururani Gate checkpoint on the boundary of the Kavango Region, the six escapees instructed the driver of the vehicle to drop them before the checkpoint, after which they walked around the checkpoint and were picked up again on the other side, Shikwambi said.The cellphone bought at Tsumeb was used to communicate with the driver, she said.The same tactic was to be followed at the Divundu checkpoint, about 500 kilometres from Tsumeb.There, however, the Okavango River presented the escapees with an additional natural obstacle.It was an obstacle that would prove to be a deadly one.Having been dropped off before that checkpoint, the six walked about a kilometre and a half in the direction of the bridge over the river, and found four dugout canoes next to the river, Shikwambi said.Their plan was to use these to cross the river, but only Sibitwani – who is from the Caprivi Region – had experience in using this type of transport.He and Engelbrecht crossed the river in one canoe, and then disaster struck.The canoe in which Matole and Ndebele were to cross capsized and only Matole managed to swim back to the river bank, Shikwambi said.Ndebele’s body was found downstream from Bagani on Thursday last week.According to what the Police officers were told during their interrogation of the five, Matole and Sibanda were so terrified by the fate that had befallen their compatriot that they decided to rather risk crossing the river by walking over the bridge, where they had to pass through another checkpoint.Beukes in the meantime crossed the Okavango with Sibitwani in a canoe, with Sibitwani using his hands to row across the river, Shikwambi related.They were again picked up by the vehicle that had driven them from Tsumeb, and were then dropped off at Sisuwe, west of the Kwando River and before yet another checkpoint at Kongola, around 08h00 on Tuesday, the Police have been told.They tried to cross the Kwando but decided that the river was too deep, and chose to wait for the night and try to cross then, Shikwambi said.In the meantime, though, they had been spotted by nature conservation officials in the area.With the Police having been alerted, a joint team of Police and Namibia Defence Force members and nature conservation officials launched a search for the five in the area, Shikwambi said.They were rounded up one by one, with the first one arrested around 11h00 on Tuesday and the last one caught by about 15h00, she said.About N$800 was found with the five after their arrest.According to the escapees, the Zimbabweans’ plan was to return to Zimbabwe, while the three Namibians planned to go into hiding in Zambia, Shikwambi said.