Bus robber who killed woman arrested

By Bernard Chiketo

MUTARE – One of two armed robbers who killed a woman and injured three other passengers when they attacked a Beitbridge-bound bus has been arrested.

The duo robbed passengers of cash and other valuables just outside the border town earlier this month.

Thandazani Mandhlazi was arrested on December 27 in Manicaland and was brought before magistrate Tendai Mahwe by police who were applying for his further detention to Saturday when he is expected to appear in a Beitbridge court charged with murder and armed robbery.

He is being charged with murder as defined in section 47 of the Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act chapter 9:23 and robbery as defined by section 126 of the same act.

Mandhlazi and his accomplice who is still at large allegedly ordered the driver of a Smart Express Bus which was coming from Mutare to stop at Mapai School turn-off 20km before Beitbridge before robbing passengers and the crew. The two were travelling in the same bus before turning on their fellow passengers.

They allegedly fired a volley of rounds indiscriminately shooting four passengers including Margaret Mungani who died on admission to Beitbridge District Hospital.

The pair is alleged to have then robbed other passengers of an undisclosed amount of cash and cell-phones before disappearing into the darkness.

The bus driver, Lovi Dama, told police that one of the robbers walked from the back of the bus to the front and asked to be dropped off around 3:30am, but instead he produced a pistol before firing a shot into the air, ordering everyone to lie down.

“He stood near me and ordered me off the wheel, and then started firing shots. He asked all people to hand over cash and mobile phones,” Dama told the media after the robbery.

The robber’s alleged accomplice collected cash and phones from passengers before the two men bolted. Daily News