Hundreds of vehicles were impounded and taken to Mbare Police Station in Harare yesterday after the owners failed to buy compulsory licence discs from the Zimbabwe National Road Authority (Zinara) following the June 30 licensing deadline.
A visit to the police station by a NewsDay crew showed that hordes of motorists had not complied with the deadline and consequently had their vehicles impounded. However, by close of business, most of them had been released.
Licence discs cost $20 and the penalty is also $20, in addition to a $5 administration fee, meaning those arrested would have to pay $45.
Police nevertheless said they did not have a specific operation targeted at the unlicensed motorists.
In an interview with NewsDay yesterday, police spokesperson Senior Assistant Commissioner Wayne Bvudzijena said only a few arrests had been made since the expiry of the deadline.
“Motorists who have been driving unlicensed vehicles from the 30th of June onwards are doing so unlawfully because it is an offence to drive an unlicensed vehicle,” Bvudzijena said.
“There have been some arrests, but we are not going to have a specific operation and we will enforce traffic regulations.”
Zinara spokesperson Augustine Moyo said defaulting motorists faced paying a penalty that amounted to double the cost of the original licence fee.
- Chamisa under fire over US$120K donation
- Mavhunga puts DeMbare into Chibuku quarterfinals
- Pension funds bet on Cabora Bassa oilfields
- Councils defy govt fire tender directive
Keep Reading
“In terms of figures, those who failed to meet the deadline will pay about 100% more because they will have to pay an administration fee as well as a late payment penalty,” Moyo said.
He added that from an estimated national vehicle population of 800 000, only 330 000 had been licensed by Monday this week.
“If we have licensed 330 000 vehicles, there is still more than 50 percent of the vehicles yet to be registered. This number is for the whole country,” he said.
