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Yeukai Karengezeka, Court Correspondent

A suspected robber who allegedly stole gold worth US$5 000 and other valuables from a gold miner has appeared in court.

Nyasha Rusike (38), appeared before Harare Magistrate Mrs Marehwanazvo Gofa charged with robbery on Thursday.

He was advised to approach the High Court for bail and return to court on December 3.

The complainant is Mr Elias Manenji, a miner based in Mberengwa.

The State alleged that on October 28, Mr Manenji, who is a gold miner, approached Rusike looking for potential buyers of gold.

Rusike indicated to Mr Manenji that he knew some gold buyers in Harare.

Mr Manenji and his friend Mr Hillary Batisai drove from Masvingo to Harare with the intention to meet Rusike and they met him in town.

The court heard that Rusike was now in the company of his accomplice only known as George and received 33 grammes of gold from the two. They agreed on a price of US$120 per gram.

Rusike did not give the complainant any payment for the gold they received as they indicated that their buyer only transacted in gold which is more than 100 grammes.

Without receiving any payment, Mr Manenji and his friend returned to Masvingo with the intention to come back and top up the gold to make a total of 100 grams.

On 4 November, Mr Manenji and his friend returned to Harare with 63 grammes of gold for the top up.

They then met in town and informed Rusike that they had come to finalise their deal.

The deal failed to materialise as Rusike’s accomplice, George, indicated that it was late and that they would proceed with the deal the following morning.

Then on 5 November at around 1400hours, Mr Manenji and his friend who were still in the company of Rusike proceeded to Helensvale Shopping Centre where they were instructed by George to meet his driver and George’s young brother.

They met and the driver demanded to see the gold before they left but Rusike insisted that they should go to a secluded place.

Heeding Rusike’s advice, they moved to a secluded place where Mr Manenji and Mr Batisai handed over the 63 grams of gold to the accused persons who then handed it over to the driver.

While conducting the transaction, five men approached them, two from the front and three from the back of their vehicle.

All the five men got inside the car and one of them drew out a black pistol and pointed it at Mr Manenji and Mr Batisai at the same time demanding their valuables.

One of the gangsters searched Mr Manenji and took his two cellphones and US$120 cash.

He also took Mr Batisai’s cellphone and a small gold scale.

They then drove away from the scene to an unknown place where Mr Manenji and his friend were dumped.

Rusike and his colleagues drove away to an unknown destination. The total value of the stolen property is US$5 649 and nothing was recovered.