The photo is from an incident that happened in 2016 near Selous along the Bulawayo-Harare Highway. No such bus accident occurred on the said date and road
This Facebook post claiming a bus travelling from South Africa to Zimbabwe hit a herd of cattle is FALSE.
The post originates from a page dubbed Bulawayo Celebs, which presents the incident as breaking and sad news.
“Sad news at Beitbridge Road, A bus travelling from Zimbabwe to South Africa was involved in an accident after hitting the cattle on the road. Prayers and thoughts with all those affected,” reads the post.
But did the accident occur?
A Google reverse image search shows that the accident happened in 2016 and was reported by The Herald, and also circulated by its sister weekly publication, The Sunday Mail.
The bus was travelling from Harare to Gaborone, Botswana, not Zimbabwe to South Africa as claimed by the post.
According to The Herald, the accident occurred in Selous along the Bulawayo-Harare Highway, not the Beitbridge road. Seluos is in Mashonaland West province, while Beitbridge is in Matabeleland South Province.
In order to ascertain the authenticity of the picture of the bus and cattle lying on the road, Zim Truth Radar at The Besana Mail subscribed to The Sunday Mail article and found that the image was photographed by Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation (ZBC) after attending the scene in 2016.
The Besana Mail – Zim Truth Radar also verified and checked with the Zimbabwe Republic Police X, which updates traffic accidents and crimes on an hourly basis, to find if there were traffic accidents on the 10 and 11 of September 2025. There was only one accident on the day, not related to the one on the post
The Besana Mail – Zim Truth Radar examined a Facebook post claiming a bus travelling from South Africa to Zimbabwe hit a herd of cattle, and found it FALSE..
This fact-check was produced by The Besana Mail, Zim Truth Radar as part of the African Fact-Checking Alliance’s (AFCA) incubation programme. It was produced with peer-mentorship from Code for Africa’s fact-checking initiative, PesaCheck, with financial support from Norway. AFCA mentorship respects the journalistic independence of the researchers, offering access to advanced techniques and tools. Editorial decision-making remains with The Besana Mail, Zim Truth Radar. Want to learn more? Visit: https://factcheck.africa/
