MaShurugwi gun down mine security guard in Bulawayo, steal loaded 303 riffle

An eight-member gang of machete-wielding illegal gold miners, infamously known as MaShurugwi, last Thursday besieged a gold mine in Bulawayo whereupon they killed a security guard manning the premises, before assaulting his colleague and getting away with a 303 riffle loaded with ammunition.

Reports from Zimbabwe’s second city indicate that Ernest Dube, a 54-year-old on-duty security guard at Adar Bali Mining Compound along the Victoria Falls Road was gunned down, while his colleague Ashley Manyemba (20) who reported his death, has since been admitted to Mpilo Central Hospital with serious head injuries.

Four suspects believed to be part of the notorious gang of eight is this Tuesday expected to appear in court charged with murder and attempted murder.

The nabbed quartet includes Tobias Dube from Nkayi, Nkosilathi Ncube from Magwegwe in Bulawayo, Loud Ngulube and Givemore Ngwenya from Insuza.

After conducting investigations, police working on a tip-off first picked up Dube, who implicated the trio leading to their arrests.

From the four, police has also managed to recover a riffle with four rounds of ammunition and investigations are currently underway to establish where the other rounds could have been used.

It is reported that the now hospitalised Manyemba who was on duty with the murdered security guard on the fateful Thursday, left the premises unarmed, at around 9.30pm, with the intention of having supper.

Tragedy reared its ugly head when, on his way back, Manyemba came across a group of about eight machete-wielding illegal gold miners who pounced on him.

One of the assailants reportedly struck him with a machete, leaving the 20-year old Adar Bali staffer in a state of unconciousness.

When he regained conciousness, Manyemba who was in bad shape after sustaining serious head injuries, made attempts at reaching out to his fellow colleague.

Writhing in agony, Manyemba discovered that his workmate, lying in a pool of blood, had been murdered. Dube’s riffle, shoes and uniform were also missing and Manyemba filed a police report.

“We have arrested four men in connection with the murder of a security guard in Bulawayo and the attempted murder of his colleague which occurred on Thursday,” said national police spokesperson Assistant Commissioner Paul Nyathi.

“The four were arrested on Friday after a tip off and police are still investigating as they were found in possession of a rifle,” he said.

state media
Additional Reporting: Zwnews