Yes indeed – 48 Zimbabwean citizens endured a four-hour hijack horror aboard an Intercape bus in South Africa earlier this week when for men armed with pistols and rifles robbed them of cash, cellphones and other gadgets worth tens of thousands of rands.
The men stopped the bus from Bulawayo to Johannesburg – posing as police officers near Hammanskraal at around 3.30 in the early hours of the morning on Tuesday.
Intercape confirmed that the incident happened and it is said passengers were shocked after their frightening ordeal.
One passenger told the Zimbabwean The Chronicle newspaper the robbers locked the drivers in a compartment in the bus and took the passenger list.
One passenger is quoted as saying: “I was asleep when I heard loud screams. At first, I thought the bus had been involved in an accident. I nearly fainted when I saw a man waving a pistol in my face and demanding cash.” She said the man took R8,000 which she intended to spend on shopping in Johannesburg.
Another passenger said he lost about R40,000 to the robbers.
Intercape said in a statement they can confirm “that on 21 April at 03:30am an Intercape coach with 48 passengers on board was held up at the Carousel Tollgate at gun point by four armed men.
“The coach was in-bound from Bulawayo, Zimbabwe, with 48 passengers, 5 drivers and one host on board. The coach passed through police presence at the tollgate and stopped on the other side of the tollgate to do a driver change,” read the statement.
The scheduled changeover was done at the tollgate under the lights in line of sight of the police and tollgate staff. “The coach was approached by four armed men who then forced the coach driver to proceed to an area out of sight of the police and tollgate staff.
The armed men then robbed the staff and passengers of valuables, cellphones and IT equipment,” read the statement.
“A case of armed robbery was opened against the four armed men by Hammanskraal police. The bus proceeded to Johannesburg after police took statements from the passengers and the bus crew. Passengers were assisted with further travel arrangements upon arrival at Johannesburg station,” said the bus company.
This latest incident comes in the wake of xenophobia attacks and murders on foreign nationals in South Africa. Xenophobic attacks broke out in Durban after Zulu King Goodwill (that’s a rather inappropriate name given the circumstances) Zwelithini said foreigners should leave South Africa.
