Online Reporter
Amos Mpofu, Online Reporter
A sombre cloud has descended over Tsholotsho after a Zimbabwean man, Judge Malamba (31), was among two people tragically shot dead during an armed robbery aboard a Delta bus travelling from Johannesburg, South Africa, to Bulawayo on Wednesday night.
Malamba was one of 54 passengers ambushed by gunmen along the N1 highway, about eight kilometres before the Nylplaza Tollgate, at around 9:40pm. The armed suspects reportedly boarded the bus and unleashed terror, robbing passengers before fatally shooting Malamba and another commuter.
He had been travelling home to Mthanyalwane Line, Tsholotsho, with his younger brother, Gift Sibanda, to attend a traditional family ceremony to build graves for their late relatives, a journey that was meant to unite the family in remembrance but ended in grief.
Sibanda survived the ordeal but was left traumatised and has since returned to South Africa, struggling to process the horrific events that unfolded before his eyes.
Speaking to the Chronicle, the family’s eldest brother, Handsome Ncube, who is based in Bulawayo, said they were devastated and frustrated by the lack of immediate communication from Delta Bus Company about the tragedy. He said the family received limited information about the robbery, including how the gunmen managed to attack and how long the ordeal lasted.
“We’re still in shock. We haven’t been told much. All we know is that our brother was on that bus, and he never made it home,” Ncube said.
“Judge had been living in South Africa for some time. He was coming home for a family ceremony, something so sacred to us. Now, we’re planning his burial instead. We still don’t even know exactly how it all happened.”
Judge Malamba, born on 19 June 1994, is survived by his wife and two young children, a boy and a girl.
