The Great Dyke robbers

the Great Dyke Range pass otherwise known as Mapinga Pass, the 22-metre-long monster serpentines with a seemingly insurmountable load.
The wheels screech as the vehicle labours under the heavy load at a snail pace.
It is not totally inconceivable that a man can walk side by side with this monster as it negotiates the steep ascends characterised with hair-pin curves on the mountain range.
So heavy is the load that some people have moved from hypothesising about the possibility of man outpacing the haulage trucks and have gone further to perform stunts that would make Hollywood stuntmen green with envy.
It is at this stage of agony and great exertion that the stuntmen or rather highway men have found an opportunity to pounce and kill the life out of the already struggling monster.
Much like a lion that chokes the air out of a weary buck by shutting the air inlet valve to inflict a painful and slow death before a moment of unhindered feasting ensues.
Welcome to the world of highway robbers who can immobilise these heavy trucks with ease.
The crafty and dangerous highway men have also mastered that these monsters cannot function without pressure hence they have resorted to cutting off pressure pipes knowing that the vehicle will soon come to a startling halt once inertia sets in.
Like a vulture, they lay in wait until their intended prey has finally succumbed to the injuries or infliction before pouncing to siphon diesel from the trucks, part of the consignment or valuables from the driver.
Although Mapinga signifies the longest stretch of steep ascends along the Harare-Chirundu Road in Mashonaland West province it is by far the least affected part.
Several black spots for truck drivers have slowly gained notoriety along the road presenting risk of loss of limp and life as the highway men have often used force to get what they want.
The most affected area stretches from Chinhoyi to Karoi where the gradual ascents and curves present a taxing proposition for heavy trucks.
Those at Chinhoyi Caves have proved to be very popular with the robbers who know that after about two kilometres the truck will stop. A total of 13 cases have been recorded in the province so far this year in operations that have been covertly carried out between 1800 hours and 0400 hours with instances of attacks involving iron bars and even machetes on the drivers and passengers.
Initially, the operations targeted siphoning diesel from the trucks as drivers would just negotiate to park the vehicles and wait for relief unaware that the malfunction was caused by people.
They would then come surreptitiously and steal diesel which will later be sold on the pervasive black market along the highway. Mashonaland West police spokesperson Inspector Clemence Mabgweazara said the new form of crime was a cause for concern for law enforcement agents.
“It is a relatively new form of crime that is now a cause of concern to the police considering the frequency it is occurring,” he said.
The most worrying thing, he said was that the men involved in the robberies were armed and were in most instances attacking drivers if they do not co-operate.
Property including diesel, cellphones, groceries, television sets, radios and cash among other items worth over US$10 000 have been stolen in the attacks.
Most attacks have been between the 102 and 160 kilometre pegs, and involved gangs of between three and 10 men wielding machetes, knives and iron bars.
“In almost all cases the people involved have cut the pressure pipes especially at steep ascents before pouncing on the drivers when the vehicle slows down or stops,” he said.
In several of those cases the windscreens have been smashed as the robbers try to enter the vehicle.
There have also been attacks along the Harare-Bulawayo Road, especially in Kadoma, including an incident where a man was attacked by three men on April 9 at around 0300hrs.
The driver of the truck, Naison Mpehela (34), stopped to give way to other motorists when three men jumped onto the trailer and cut the airline cable forcing it to stop.
One of the men entered the vehicle through an open window and struck the driver with a machete before one of them struck him with an iron bar.
They took away his property, including US$120, a Nokia N70 phone and disappeared, leaving him for dead. He sustained a deep cut on the head and was lucky to be rescued by a passerby before the matter was reported to the police.
The culprits have not yet been arrested while investigations are still in progress.
Investigations by The Herald have shown that some of the diesel that is stolen during the robberies ends up on the black market along the highways where container waving youths dominate.
The fuel is relatively cheaper at US$1 per litre compared to the pump price of about US$1,20 per litre.
Some of them have been daring enough to target the trucks at truck-ins and in towns such as Chinhoyi and Karoi where the drivers stopover to rest.
They cut the pressure pipes knowing that their counterparts will be waiting a few kilometres along the way to pounce on the trucks.
The new challenges posed by the highway men have put pressure on the drivers who are already burdened by a heavy workload with limited time to rest as they drive night and day in a bid to reach their destinations.
Police have so far tried to increase patrols but the target points keep changing in response to the patrols. It is a war that has to be won for both the security of goods in transit and the safety of drivers who have endured attacks.
In the meantime, drivers will continue to feel insecure when they reach steep gradients fearing that they could be attacked by the daring criminals.