Survivors recount Delta Bus robbery horror

For dozens of traumatised passengers who survived Wednesday night's Delta Bus robbery between Johannesburg and Bulawayo, the homeward journey became a nightmare - one filled with gunfire, screams and death.

Two passengers were shot dead and scores robbed and beaten after a group of armed men ambushed the bus near the fourth tollgate out of Johannesburg. Survivors said some of the assailants had boarded the bus disguised as ordinary travellers before unleashing terror hours later.

"They were ruthless. They had pistols and metal bars that looked like spanners," said Charmaine Linda Mbatha, one of the injured passengers, speaking from the Delta Bus offices in Bulawayo.

Her head was bandaged, her eyes hollow.

"They beat people, shouting for us to hand over money and phones. Before taking my R20,000 and iPhone, one of them smashed the side of my head with a pistol."

Mbatha paused, tears filling her eyes.

"I worked so hard for what they took. Now I have nothing. Not even a phone to call my family."

She recalled watching Judge Malamba Ncube, another passenger, being executed in cold blood.

"He didn't resist. He showed them his empty wallet, trembling. One robber pushed him to the ground and shot him three times. He died right there."

The second victim, a woman travelling with her two children - one of them disabled - was killed in the crossfire. Her children were later taken into police custody in South Africa.

Another survivor said the attackers operated "like soldiers," moving swiftly and with coordination. After the robbers fled, the driver continued to the next tollgate, where police were alerted. Emergency services ferried the dead to Johannesburg and took the injured to hospital.

Delta Bus Company later dispatched a replacement coach from Zimbabwe to collect the stranded passengers. The bus arrived in Bulawayo on Thursday night, greeted by weeping relatives and stunned onlookers.

The horrific attack has reignited concerns over the rising wave of cross-border robberies targeting public transport between South Africa and Zimbabwe. Police say criminal syndicates have grown increasingly daring, striking buses, shops and travellers carrying cash or valuables.

Only last week, police in Norton shot dead four armed robbers - two of them South African nationals - in a firefight, highlighting how cross-border crime has become a deadly and growing threat.