Man appears in court for trying to disarm soldiers

A BEITBRIDGE man has appeared in court for allegedly attacking two soldiers controlling traffic at the border post before trying to disarm them in separate incidents.This was heard by Beitbridge magistrate Toindepi Zhou when Nhlanhla Mpala (35) appeared before him on Friday charged with two counts of attempted robbery.

He was not asked to plead to the charge and was remanded in custody to July 8 for trial.The court was told that on May 28 at 8:30am, Mpala pounced on two soldiers stationed at 1.3 Reserve Battalion, Thubalenkosi Mlotshwa (28) of Pumula South in Bulawayo and Lukile Moyo (25) of Nketa, Bulawayo currently deployed at Beitbridge Border Post before attempting to wrest guns from them.It is the State case that on the first count, Mlotshwa was controlling traffic at Beitbridge Border Post truck entrance armed with a loaded AK47 rifle.Mpala allegedly struck her with a stone once on the head.Mlotshwa fell to the ground, thereby dropping her rifle.

As Mpala tried to reach for the gun, Moyo stepped on the rifle, preventing him from grabbing it.It is the State case that Mlotshwa sustained lacerations on the head and bruises on the right elbow and was taken to Beitbridge Hospital for medical attention.