Swift sentence for taxi attack

THE wheels of justice turned swiftly at Walvis Bay when four men were sent to jail less than a week after their assault on a taxi driver.

Willem van Wyk, his brother Christiaan van Wyk, their cousin, Louis Bezuidenhout, and a friend, Spartacus Morkel, were each sentenced to six and a half years in prison by Magistrate Peter Nangula. They all pleaded guilty on charges of robbery with aggravating circumstances, kidnapping and damage to property.Willem van Wyk also admitted guilt on a charge of attempted murder.On the night of November 9, taxi driver Thomas Kalombo drove the four men from Narraville to the salt pans at Walvis Bay where Kalombo was severely beaten, repeatedly stabbed with a knife and robbed by his four passengers.They then put Kalombo in the boot of the taxi and pushed the car into the lagoon.Kalombo survived and was treated for stab wounds and injuries to his head at the Walvis Bay State Hospital.”You put Thomas Kalomba in the boot of his taxi and pushed the car into the lagoon because you wanted to hide his body,” Magistrate Nangula said.He said this sentencing should send a message to Namibians that the freedom that comes with Independence doesn’t give one the right to kill and rob wilfully.They all pleaded guilty on charges of robbery with aggravating circumstances, kidnapping and damage to property.Willem van Wyk also admitted guilt on a charge of attempted murder.On the night of November 9, taxi driver Thomas Kalombo drove the four men from Narraville to the salt pans at Walvis Bay where Kalombo was severely beaten, repeatedly stabbed with a knife and robbed by his four passengers.They then put Kalombo in the boot of the taxi and pushed the car into the lagoon.Kalombo survived and was treated for stab wounds and injuries to his head at the Walvis Bay State Hospital.”You put Thomas Kalomba in the boot of his taxi and pushed the car into the lagoon because you wanted to hide his body,” Magistrate Nangula said.He said this sentencing should send a message to Namibians that the freedom that comes with Independence doesn’t give one the right to kill and rob wilfully.