Taxi driver attacked, robbed

pretext that they wanted to be taken to Makakavhule village, about 10km west of the border town.
The acting Officer Commanding Police in Beitbridge District, Superintendent Conrad Manhai, said the incident occurred on Wednesday last week at about 2pm in a bushy area near White Lodge in the border town.
“The victim was approached by two men who wanted to hire his car under the guise that they intended to be ferried to Makakavhule village and they then offered him R1 000. The two men then got into the car and led the driver to a local lodge where, upon arrival, they ordered him to stop.
“They then teamed up with two accomplices who were armed with knives and a hoe and they smashed the window on the driver’s side,” he said.
The suspects then robbed the taxi driver of R1 700 before they stabbed him all over the body with a knife after which they fled from the scene leaving him lying unconscious.
The victim, Mr Nyengera Mutsamwira, who sustained severe body injuries, later regained consciousness and went to the police station where he reported the matter.
He was taken to Beitbridge District Hospital where he was treated and discharged.
Supt Manhai said the suspects were still at large.
“We have since launched a manhunt for the suspects and we are appealing to anyone with information that could lead to the arrest of the two men to contact us or any nearest police station.
“As police we also would like to urge motorists, especially taxi drivers, to be extra-cautious whenever they are approached by strangers as we continue to record an increase in such cases,” he said.
Recently, a 26-year-old local taxi driver was also robbed of his car, a Nissan March worth $4 000, by two men at gunpoint before they dumped him at Makakavhule cemetery.
The two men had hired the taxi driver on the pretext that they wanted to be driven to Hlalani Kuhle houses in the border town.