AFTER years of dodging traffic police at road blocks, 33-year-old Winky-D is now a qualified Class 4 driver.
NUNURAI JENA OWN CORRESPONDENT
The Musarova Bigman singer successfully went through a VID test in Chinhoyi yesterday.
His instructor Peter Magwaro of Beginners’ Driving School said Winky D was now a tested driver although he struggled with hill start for some time. “He is now a good driver although he had problems with hill start which he is now managing well,” Magwaro said.
Winky D first got tested on Wednesday and failed as he “rolled back” before he succeeded yesterday.
Interestingly, when his manager Jonathan Banda was contacted about the license, he insisted that Winky D had always had a driver’s license.
“What are you talking about Winky is at the farm in Mashonaland West he has always had a license,” Banda said.
Winky D has been driving for several years from the days he bought his Toyota Starlet which he mentions on the track Officer also known as Musandisunge Officer.
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He has also driven a Nissan Liberty and a Honda Fit among other makes.
Magwaro took the chance to dispel rumours that people came to Chinhoyi for road testing because they corruptly obtain drivers licenses.
There have been unsubstantiated accusations that people get licenses after paying a bribe mainly in Chinhoyi and Kadoma VID.
Sources at VID Chinhoyi said most people who got licenses were from Harare.
Magwaro said people preferred smaller towns for road testing because of low volume of traffic.
“Yes, most people prefer places like Chinhoyi for road test because in Harare there is high volume of traffic,” Magwaro said.
Another driving school owner who refused to be named for professional reasons said besides congestion, potential drivers take too long to be tested in bigger cities.
“People come here to get rid of congestion in bigger towns and besides we like it that way because it gives us business as Chinhoyi catchment is small” the instructor said.
There have been cases of prominent musicians being involved in accidents without valid driver’s license.
Afro-jazz musician Dudu Manhenga was once convicted of gross negligence for causing the death of Graham Martin Millward in 2010 while driving without a valid driver’s license.
She was sentenced to 18-month (jail term) but the sentence was reduced to a fine of $1 000 after she appealed to the High Court.
Rising dancehall chanter Soul Jah Love was involved in an accident last year after the Mercedes Benz A Class vehicle he was driving was cut off by a commuter omnibus along Willowvale Road in Harare.
It was later established that Soul Jah Love did not have a drivers’ license then.
