Online Reporter
Thupeyo Muleya
Beitbridge Bureau
A 62-YEAR-OLD cross-border bus driver employed by Mthethi Bus Coaches, South Africa, has been jailed for an effective 18 months for negligent driving that caused the death of two people in December 2024 near the Makhado area along the Beitbridge to Bulawayo Highway.
Roderick Ndlovu, who was driving an Irizar bus on December 19, 2024, is accused of having veered from his lane, causing a head-on collision with a Toyota Fortuner that was travelling in the opposite direction.
As a result of the collision, the Toyota Fortuner driver and one passenger died at the scene.
Although he pleaded not guilty to the charge of culpable homicide, Beitbridge Resident Magistrate Mr Takudzwa Gwazemba convicted him on the strength of the State’s evidence.
The court also prohibited Ndlovu from driving class 1 vehicles for 24 months and also cancelled his driver’s licence class 1 as part of the sentence.
Appearing for the State, Mr Ronald Mugwagwa and Miss Olivia Chamutinya told the court that on December 19, 204 at around 3 am, Ndlovu was driving a speeding South African-registered bus travelling towards Beitbridge.
Upon reaching the 277km peg along the Bulawayo to Beitbridge road, he hit a donkey with the left side of the bus’s bumper.
The bus then swerved to the oncoming lane and collided head-on with a Toyota Fortuner that was travelling in the opposite direction, causing the death of its driver and a passenger who was seated in the front seat.
The bus continued to veer off the road to the right and hit roadside bushes and it finally encroached into a railway line and stopped.
The court heard that the bus was extensively damaged on its right side, while the Toyota Fortuner was extensively damaged.
The deceased were taken to Beitbridge District Hospital for post-mortems while Ndlovu was taken to the same hospital for treatment and arrested during investigations by the police.
