Zimbabwe: Dnc Bus Accident – Government Allocates U.S.$197,000 for Victims As Repatriation Process Begins
GOVERNMENT has set aside nearly US$197,000 to cover the medical and repatriation costs for Zimbabwean victims of the Limpopo bus accident, which killed 44.
The victims, Zimbabweans and Malawians, were travelling back home when the DNC bus veered off the N1 North near Louis Trichardt on 13 October, killing 43 passengers and injuring 40 others, the victims. One more person succumbed to injuries in the hospital, bringing the death toll to 44.
36 Zimbabweans died and 13 remain hospitalised in South Africa, with three in a critical condition.
Preliminary investigations have revealed that the accident was due to brake failure and overloading of the bus, which was carrying 91 passengers with only a 62-seater capacity.
President Emmerson Mnangagwa has since declared the bus accident a national disaster.
Presenting a ministerial statement in the National Assembly recently, the Deputy Minister of Local Government and Public Works, Benjamin Kabikira, said the repatriation will be conducted in batches beginning on Friday.
“The positive identification of all deceased was completed on the 20th of October, 2025, with the ZRP forensic team present to assist with the fingerprint screening and verification. In cases involving deceased children, DNA samples were collected from both the deceased and their next of kin for accurate identification.
“Then, on the death registration and documentation, all required documentation, including the death certificates and burial orders, are being processed to facilitate repatriation.
“The repatriation to Zimbabwe is anticipated to begin in batches from Friday, 24th October 2025, pending the completion of all formal processes. A mass memorial service will be held in Beitbridge when the bodies arrive in Zimbabwe,” said Kabikira.
Kabikira added that US$197,000 has been set aside to assist the victims.
“Secondly, we have dispatched a bus with next of kin or relatives from the National Disaster Management Centre, Harare, to the Beitbridge route to South Africa, for identification of the bodies. Zimbabwean nationals, that is next of kin without valid passports, were granted temporary passage into South Africa for the sole purpose of identifying the deceased.
“A list of names for the next of kin and national IDs was submitted to South African Immigration in advance to ensure smooth border processing. As a Ministry, post mortems were completed on Friday, the 17th of October, 2025 and the physical identification was also completed as of 20 October at Siloam Hospital.
“As an intervention, the department of Civil Protection requested the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructural Development and Zim Borders for a waiver of border charges for the hearses and bus carrying the bodies and families of the bereaved. The budget for intervention and coordination of the disaster is as follows: We are anticipating using a total amount of US$197,940 or ZWG5,340,930. 3 in the coordination and intervention of the disaster,” said Kabikira.
By New Zimbabwe.
