TRAFFIC police and Harare City Council have impounded at least 500 vehicles including commuter omnibuses and pirate taxis in an operation targeting suspected robbers since Friday, NewsDay has leant.
BY MOSES MATENGA STAFF REPORTER
The operation, code-named “No to robbers and traffic violators”, is meant to rid the city of illegal activities conducted using public transport in Harare. Several robbery cases in the city have been committed by criminals using public transport vehicles.
As a result of the blitz, the few commuter omnibuses that remained on the roads doubled their fares on all the major arteries that feed into the capital. The unilateral increases in bus fares resulted in a trip from Harare to Chinhoyi, which usually costs $3 doubling to $6 while other commuters were paying up to $2 for the Harare-Norton route. Some local routes cost up to $1 one way.
Kombi drivers alleged that their employers demanded they met high targets as schools open because they knew pupils would be travelling.
The blitz caused a transport crisis with commuters seen milling around usual pick-up points while the cat-and-mouse game continued between kombi drivers and the police.
Residents said the police and council were only interested in launching operations without assessing their impact.
But Council spokesperson Leslie Gwindi yesterday said: “This is in line with our vision of becoming a world-class city by 2025 and we will do anything possible to achieve that.”
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Impounded vehicles were being vetted yesterday. Those meeting requirements were released.
Some of the offences were obstructing traffic, driving unregistered vehicles, invalid licence discs and under-age driving of public transport vehicles. Unregistered cellphone and laptop vendors were also targeted in the blitz.
Police confirmed the blitz, but did not give details.
The blitz followed a series of several such operations since 2010 that have, however, failed to address the situation.
Combined Harare Residents Association chairman Simbarashe Moyo said: “They (operations) will just go down as the other operations and there is a possibility that they want to fleece the public of its hard-earned cash. Have they assessed the impact because it’s useless and not sustainable? Where is the money going to? Their operations mean nothing if there are no results on the ground.”
Commuter omnibus operators said the police and council should not deal ruthlessly with kombis as the business was a source of livelihood for many people.
