Eight men in civilian clothing, brandishing brand new AK-47 assault rifles, intercepted the South AFrican-registered truck carrying 60,000 copies of The Zimbabwean on Sunday issue of 25th May 2008 at Ngundu Halt, some 150 kms south of Masvingo at 10pm on Saturday night (May  24th). They kidnapped the driver and the distribution assistant, bundled them into two vehicles - a Toyota and an Isuzu pick up truck.

They were driven to isolated spot in Mandamabwe, near Masvingo, where they were forced to move the newspapers to the back of the truck and sprinkle petrol all over them.

The truck's tanks were drained of diesel which the men decanted into their vehicles. The men then fired a volley of shots into the back of the truck, setting the newspapers on fire.

The driver, Christmas Ramabulana (a South African national), and distribution assistant Tapfumaneyi Kancheta, a Zimbabwean, were then severely beaten with rifle butts and dumped separately in the bush.

Kancheta's passport was confiscated and burnt, but Ramabulana was allowed to keep his. All their clothes, shoes, blankets and groceries were taken.

After wandering about for a few hours they found each other and made their way to the main road. They said the men who kidnapped them had been wearing surgical gloves so as not to leave any finger prints.

BACKGROUND

The 14-tonne truck containing 60,000 copies of today's edition of The Zimbabwean on Sunday has been found this afternoon near Chivi - burnt out. The driver, Christmas Ramabulana (a South African national), and distribution assistant Tapfumaneyi Kancheta, a Zimbabwean, were stopped 67 km from Masvingo last night and forced to drive along the Chivi-Mandamabwe Rd for 16kms before they turned off into the Mandamabwe Rd where several bullets from AK47 assault rifles were pumped into the South African-registered truck before its contents were set alight. The two men were badly beaten by their kidnappers and abandoned in the bush. They made their way to Masvingo where they arrived this afternoon and contacted our Harare office. For what its worth, a report has been made to the police in Masvingo.

Kancheta said his head was badly swollen from the savage beating, and the driver was having problems breathing. An ambulance has been dispatched to take them to hospital. They were both in severe shock and unable to give any other details of the attack.

The Zimbabwean on Sunday was launched in February this year as a sister paper to the popular weekly The Zimbabwean, which since last year has become the largest selling newspaper in Zimbabwe - selling 230,000 copies a week at its peak during the run-up to the landmark 2008 elections.

The Zimbabwean on Sunday quickly established a reputation as the country's leading Sunday paper.

Mugabe's senior henchman, Emmerson Mnangagwa, recently blamed The Zimbabwean for Zanu (PF)'s electoral defeat. Mnangagwa heads the Joint Operations Command responsible for the atrocities being committed in Zimbabwe since the aged dictator lost the March 29 elections to popular MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai.

The Zimbabwean was established in February 2005 to stand against Mugabe's media blackout. It exploits a loophole in Zimbabwe's draconian anti-press legislation by being published and printed in South Africa and trucked into the country.

Despite frequently being harassed and denounced, until this weekend every issue had made it safely to Harare, from where it was distributed throughout the country and devoured by a population starved of accurate information and fed a daily diet of the coarsest government propaganda.

We condemn this barbaric attack against our staff and the newspaper and vow to leave no stone unturned until the perpetrators of this atrocity are brought to book.

Wilf Mbanga
Editor/Publisher
The Zimbabwean