A journey to South Africa by 13 Zimbabwean cross-border shoppers turned into a nightmare when the crew of a minibus they were travelling in drew pistols and robbed them of their belongings and cash amounting to about R20 000, before stripping male victims of their clothes, police have said.

The suspects, armed with pistols, left the 10 male passengers stark naked after ordering them to strip. The incident occurred along the Beit Bridge-Harare road on Friday (September 26) at about 23.30 at a lay-bye point, outside Beit Bridge town.

Local police spokesperson Insp Patrick Chademana said the passengers were on their way to Beit Bridge border post en route to South Africa when the incident happened.

“The minibus was travelling from Harare to Beit Bridge and when it got to a lay-bye point, outside Beit Bridge town, the driver told his passengers that the vehicle had run out of fuel. He then pulled off the road under the guise of intending to refuel it,” he said.

Chademana said while at the lay-bye point, the driver ordered all 13 passengers to disembark. “It was at that point that the three crew members drew pistols from their waists and ordered everyone to surrender everything they had. All the men were stripped of their clothes and left stark naked. Female passengers were, however, saved from this humiliating act,” he said.

 “The passengers lost cash in excess of R20 000 and a lot of money in local (Zimbabwean) currency. Women had their handbags stolen while almost everyone lost a cell phone and cash to the robbers. We are, however, still to ascertain the exact value of the stolen goods,” he said.

Chademana said after the robbery, the minibus crew quickly jumped into their vehicle and sped off in the direction of Harare. “One of the passengers managed to get the registration number of the vehicle and we are investigating with the hope of arresting the suspects, who are still on the run," said the police spokesman.

The victims were then picked up by a heavy-duty truck and taken to a nearby police station where they made their report.