Online Reporter
Amos Mpofu, [email protected]
TEARS, trembling voices and vacant stares told the story before words did.
For dozens of traumatised passengers who survived Wednesday night’s Delta Bus robbery between Johannesburg and Bulawayo, the journey meant to bring them home turned into a nightmare — one marked by gunfire, screams and death.
Two passengers were shot dead in cold blood, and scores of others were robbed, beaten and left emotionally scarred, after armed men ambushed the bus near the fourth tollgate out of Johannesburg.
Survivors told chilling tales of how some of the attackers had boarded the bus pretending to be passengers, only to unleash terror hours later.
“They were ruthless. They were armed with pistols and metal bars that looked like spanners,” recalled Charmaine Linda Mbatha, her voice shaking as she sat on a wooden bench at the Delta Bus offices in Bulawayo, clutching her bandaged head.
“They beat people, shouting for us to hand over money and phones. Before taking my R20 000 rand and my iPhone, one of them smashed the side of my head with his pistol.”
Her words hung heavy in the evening air — a mix of shock and resignation.
“I worked so hard for what they took. Now I have nothing. Not even a phone to call my family. You’re interviewing me, but will that bring back what I’ve lost?” she asked, tears pooling in her eyes.
Moved by her despair, the reporter quietly reached into his pocket and handed her R100 — a small act of kindness amid immense loss. Mbatha said she will never forget the moment Judge Malamba Ncube, one of the victims, was executed before her eyes.
That man never resisted. He trembled as he showed them his empty wallet. One of the robbers pushed him to the ground and shot him three times. He died right there,” she said, her voice breaking.
The second victim — a woman travelling with her two children, one of whom lives with a disability — was caught in the crossfire. Her children were later taken into the care of the South African police.
Another survivor, who asked not to be named, said the attackers struck with military-like co-ordination. After the robbers fled with passengers’ belongings, the driver managed to reach the next tollgate, where police were alerted. Emergency services transported the deceased back to Johannesburg and took the injured to the hospital.
Delta Bus Company later sent a replacement coach from Zimbabwe to collect the stranded and traumatised passengers. The bus arrived in Bulawayo on Thursday shortly after 9PM, greeted by weeping relatives and stunned onlookers.
What should have been a routine cross-border trip had turned into a journey through fear and mourning.
The incident has reignited concern over the rising trend of violent robberies targeting public transport in both South Africa and Zimbabwe. Criminal syndicates, often operating across borders, have become increasingly bold — targeting buses, retail outlets and travellers carrying cash or valuables.
Just last week, police in Norton gunned down four armed robbers, two of whom were South African nationals. The growing trend has left law enforcement on both sides of the border scrambling to contain an epidemic of cross-border crime.
