A BULAWAYO motorist yesterday told of how he was abducted, robbed and stabbed six times while his hands and feet were tied by a gang targeting motorists in Cowdray Park at a robbery hotspot that has seen five other drivers being attacked. Mqondisi Sibanda, 45, fell for a trick that the criminals employ; throwing a tyre in the middle of the road and pouncing on motorists who stop at the spot. He was attacked on Sunday last week and since then, five more motorists have fallen victim to the same ruse at the same place.
Sibanda, who is still nursing injuries from the brutal attack said he thought he was going to die as he was bound both hands and feet and thrown in the back of his Toyota Granvia vehicle.

The gang then detained him for almost three hours, while assaulting him.
“They held me from 10:30PM on Sunday last week to 1:30AM after I had slowed down my car thinking that my spare wheel had fallen off. I didn’t even get out of the vehicle as I realised that the spare wheel wasn’t mine. It was size 13 while mine is size 15,” said Sibanda, a member of the Harmony Singers for the past 20 years.
He said as he tried to drive away, three men pounced on his vehicle.
“They smashed the car windows and one of them jumped into the vehicle while the other started hitting me on the hands. I then stopped driving and they started assaulting me demanding money,” he said.
He said his attackers took away almost $600 and kept assaulting him as they demanded more money.
“They took away $500, in my jacket pocket, $60 in my trousers and $20 on the dashboard of the car. They started demanding gold saying because I had a helmet and a work-suit I owned a mine. I tried to explain that I worked for a construction company, but they continued assaulting me,” he said.
Sibanda said he was tied and thrown to the back of his car.
“I was stabbed about six times in the head, tied both hands and feet. All the blood you’re seeing in my car is a result of the stabbing.

“I never thought I was going to live. They told me they were going to kill me but didn’t want to get their hands dirty. They wanted to throw me into Denvor Dam but the car got stuck in the sand and they drove back to Cowdray Park,” he said.
Sibanda said it was because of God’s grace that he is still alive.
“I’d done all calculations and concluded that I was going to die that night. But I believe God still has a purpose for my life. All the odds were against me, but as the devil was working, God was also working and I triumphed,” he said.
Sibanda said he suspects the men were operating as a syndicate as they were picked by another car.
“They were picked by a maroon Nissan pickup which was being driven by someone whom they were constantly talking to on the phone. They looted everything that was in my car. I’d bought groceries that I wanted to send to my father at our rural home,” said Sibanda.
He said after the criminals released him, he struggled as four motorists he tried to get assistance from drove away.
“I’d to drive to Cowdray Park police sub-station but officers there were not of any help either. They said they were afraid and didn’t have a car to go and track the thieves that night. I then called my wife from the station and she took me to the United Bulawayo Hospitals where I received treatment before I was allowed to go home,” he said.
“This happened on Sunday last week and five more people have been robbed since. It leaves us to wonder what the police are doing. What’s their business if they’re failing to protect our lives? They’re only effective in traffic cases. They didn’t even come to do the investigations on time.”
He said police took three days to come to get a statement from him.
“They came to my house on Wednesday at 11:30PM. What took them all that long to start the investigation? They haven’t conducted investigations on my car. Those boys finger prints are all over,” he said.
Acting police spokesperson for Bulawayo province Assistant Inspector Abednico Ncube said police were hunting for the criminals whom he said had committed similar acts in the suburb.
“We’ve received such a report and we urge members of the public to avoid driving through those places or parking their vehicles in odd places. These criminals drop an old car tyre and as the driver gets distracted they get attacked,” said Asst Insp Ncube.
He called on members of the public to assist the police with any information that may lead to the arrest of the criminals.
He dismissed allegations that police were not acting on the matter.chronicle