South Africa: Two Women Caught With Stolen Government Medicine At Joburg Bus Terminal

31 October 2025
Scrolla (Johannesburg)
By Everson Luhanga
  • Police in Limpopo are still investigating a deadly bus crash that killed 43 people and exposed stolen government drugs on board.
  • A Cuban doctor in Limpopo was arrested earlier this month for keeping hospital medicine at home and released on warning.

Two women were arrested in Braamfontein on Thursday after police discovered stolen government medicine packed inside a cross-border bus heading to Harare, Zimbabwe.

The women, aged 38 and 50, are both Zimbabwean nationals. They were taken to Hillbrow Police Station after officers found boxes of government-labelled medication worth about R20 000.

According to police, the women said they stock the medicine somewhere in Roodepoort. Officers have launched an investigation to find out where the drugs came from and how they ended up on a passenger bus.

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The arrest has raised alarm about a growing trend of stolen state medicine being smuggled across borders.

Last month, a horror bus crash in Limpopo killed 43 people and left dozens injured. The bus, which was travelling to Zimbabwe, was also carrying boxes of government medicine -- including prescription drugs and antiretrovirals.

The Limpopo government has confirmed that 29 of the victims were Zimbabwean nationals whose bodies are being repatriated. The Zimbabwean President, Emmerson Mnangagwa, said his government would help pay hospital bills for the injured and repatriate the bodies of those who died.

South African authorities have launched an inquiry into the crash and are investigating how stolen medicine ended up on the bus.

In another case, a Cuban doctor in Limpopo was arrested in Thabazimbi for being in possession of government medicine that was not meant to leave hospital premises. The doctor, named Yamilet Castaneda, was released on warning and is expected back in court later in November.

Police said the two women arrested in Braamfontein will appear in the Johannesburg Magistrate's Court soon.

Read the original article on Scrolla.

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