“I never knew things like this existed and I feared for my life.”
Mike* had to relocate his family, for safety reasons and is now residing in Pretoria after a terrible ordeal on his way home. He was a resident of eMalahleni and told WITBANK NEWS of his horrific experience after he left Malawi, where he worked, on Friday, November 24.
“I got transport from Malawi to Zimbabwe, thereafter I had to get on a taxi that would have taken me to Johannesburg. I took a taxi from Beit Bridge border,” Mike started, “Driving in a Quantum, we were on our way back to South Africa but suddenly the driver diverted to Musina, a border town.”
Mike continued by saying that they drove into the bush for approximately 25 kilometres and after they stopped, the driver asked for their wallets, money, cellphones, everything!
“They told me to get off with my bags and we walked through the bush. We found people doing patrols, from the Zimbabwean Defence Force as well as Zimbabwean Police. The taxi driver greeted them giving them money for, presumably, a drink. We walked over hills and mountains but everything was bush,” he said.
But what he saw next shocked him to his core:
“We came across approximately 50 boys, sitting in rows. They looked like they had not bathed or eaten in months. They were so dirty and approximately 500 meters from there the taxi driver and his partner made us sit with our bags.”
He added that the driver told them to get their phones and call their relatives to send them money and only then will they proceed to Johannesburg.
“I was told to give them R2 500, one of the other guys R5 000 and another R800. I must add that it was only the three of us with the two ‘suspects’ and the other passengers in the taxi presumably left when we got out of the taxi,” Mike added.
He said that he already paid R300 to get to Johannesburg and there were five guys in the taxi when he got in around 04:00 that morning. They waited at the border gate until around 07:30 when the last passenger got in.
“They had my phone which was flat and I told them that I cannot make a call. I did not know any numbers. They then told us to wait for three hours to charge my phone and they left me and three others there,” Mike continued.
Another passenger then told him something that he will not easily forget.
“We have to fight those guys or we die here today.”
Mike told the other passenger that they cannot fight them as they do not know what the other group of boys will do.
“We waited until they were out of sight and we made a run for it. We went in different directions and that was the last time I saw him. I was only worried about myself at that stage and I ran until I reached Musina. I refused to get into a taxi and walked to the N1- highway and hiked back home. I got a lift and the stranger dropped me off where I wanted to be,” Mike said.
Certain things are etched in Mike’s mind like the baby diapers and womens clothing lying where they were kept. The boys, Mike believes were promised work and are being kept for ransom money.
“I have heard terrible stories. I am just glad to be alive,” he concluded.
*The name Mike was used to protect the identity of the person affected.
ALSO READ
https://www.citizen.co.za/witbank-news/93396/kidnapped-child-returned-family/
https://www.citizen.co.za/witbank-news/88342/man-kidnapped-robbed-belongings/
