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NewsDay

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Zim records sharp drop in car theft

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FIVE years after the introduction of new vehicle number plates with high security features, the country has begun to reap rewards, with a drastic reduction in car theft.

FIVE years after the introduction of new vehicle number plates with high security features, the country has begun to reap rewards, with a drastic reduction in car theft.

BY RICHARD CHIDZA

people and vehicles on the road leading to the birthday venue

According to figures released by the Zimbabwe Republic Police yesterday, between 2014 and 2015 there was an average 13% drop in vehicle theft, with some provinces recording decreases of up to 58%.

In 2014, Midlands recorded 66 car thefts, but as of the end of 2015, this had dropped to 28. Harare remains the leading province for car theft, with 181 vehicles being stolen in 2014, but this had also gone down by 23% to 139 last year.

Police spokesperson, Senior Assistant Commissioner Charity Charamba said besides the number plates, police had also increased anti-car theft operations.

“The number plates helped, but police also stepped up their operations and the maintenance of a vehicle theft data base assisted police to quickly check for stolen motor vehicles,” she said. Charamba said the huge drop in vehicle prices in the last few years also contributed to the reduction in car theft.

“There has been an increase in cars and there have also become cheap, so that has in a way also helped a lot,” she said.

By the end of 2015, police figures show that at least 112 arrests had been made, but with a low percentage of convictions, with 23 people having been jailed. This was compared to 156 arrests in 2014 with 34 convictions.

Government introduced the new computerised vehicle licensing system in 2011, phasing out the old number plates at the end of that year. As part of an integrated transport management system, government has adopted, the Central Vehicle Registry implemented the new system in a bid to stem the tide of vehicle theft that also includes computerised vehicle licence discs, as well as efforts to digitise the Vehicle Inspection Department, long considered a haven of corruption.

Matabeleland South has the lowest figures followed by Matabeleland North.

However, convictions of those arrested for vehicle theft cases rose in Manicaland and Mashonaland West, but declined in Harare and drastically in Midlands, where they fell from 10 to a single conviction, but this on the back of fewer arrests in both cases.