The Sunday News
Mbongeni Msimanga Sunday News Correspondent
TWO Zimbabwean buses from the same company were yesterday attacked by armed robbers in Polokwane Province in South Africa, bringing the tally of such incidents to four buses in four days.The buses which belong to Eagle Liner were headed to Johannesburg, in an incident that comes hot on the heels of similar attacks on two Zimbabwean buses in two days.
Two buses that belong to Eagle Liner and Citiliner were attacked by highway armed robbers on Tuesday and Wednesday respectively.
The attacks come barely a month after a Johannesburg-bound Intercape bus was hijacked near Hammanskraal by armed robbers in the early hours of the morning.
Limpopo police spokesperson Col Ronel Otto confirmed the latest incident and said investigations into the case were still on-going.
“Yes, I can confirm that we have received the news about that case. Investigations are still ongoing and we are still yet to make arrests,” she said.
It is alleged the drivers stopped before a toll gate in Modimolle, 100km South of Polokwane Province, where they wanted to switch buses.
Passengers are said to have got off the bus taking advantage of the bus drivers who were swapping.
However, the robbers managed to board the buses pretending to be passengers.
“The reports I have received so far indicate that the drivers stopped so that they could switch buses. Passengers are also said to have got off the bus as well. The robbers got into the buses pretending to be passengers,” said Police Col Otto.
Eagle Liner passengers lost valuables such as cash, cellphones and other gadgets to the robbers who struck while they were on board, with each bus having a suspect who was wielding a gun.
Col Otto said the robbers, who are still at large, then ordered the bus drivers to stop and fled from the scene using their getaway car.
“Passengers were robbed of their valuables that included money, cellphones and other gadgets. Reports however, indicate that the robbers struck while they were on board. They ordered the bus driver to stop and fled from the scene using their getaway car that was driving behind them,” she said.
During the Intercape bus robbery, passengers had to endure a four-hour hijack horror in South Africa when four pistol and rifle-wielding men got away with cash, cellphones and gadgets worth tens of thousands of dollars at around 3.30am.
Col Otto said there were circumstances where robbers work in cahoots with bus drivers, pointing out that they knew the attack hotspots, and passengers’ security was at risk.
“It could be a case of bus drivers working in cahoots with the robbers as they know the attack hotspots. We are not pointing fingers at anyone but this affects the passengers’ security,” she said.
No one has been confirmed to have been injured in the robbery.
