The Sunday News
Vusumuzi Dube Municipal Reporter
A TAXI war is looming in Bulawayo amid reports that two transport companies that won the right to operate in the city — the Bulawayo Public Transport Association (Bupta) and Tshova Mubaiwa had hired bouncers to fight pirate taxi operators that continue to ply their designated routes. As confusion continues to surround the implementation of the Bulawayo City Council (BCC) instigated public transport policy, investigations by Sunday News revealed that it was likely to come back to haunt the local authority as the two associations have engaged bouncers and continue to engage in running battles with pirate taxis in the city.
The local authority has since the beginning of the month turned the City Hall into a kombi rank for commuter omnibuses plying routes in the low-density suburbs to curb pirate taxi operators.
However, the pirate taxi operators have come up with new illegal ranks where they freely operate save for the times when they are being chased away by the municipal police or bouncers engaged by commuter omnibus operators.
Contacted for comment, Bupta chairperson Mr Strike Ndlovu had no kind words for the pirate taxi operators saying they deserved whatever action they got as they did not pay any tax to Government.
He, however, denied that as a company they were engaging bouncers saying this was being done by kombi drivers to block the private cars from plying their routes.
“We have talked to the council and the police to assist get rid of these cars. It is, however, disappointing that nothing has been done. I think now they should tell us whether there has been any law that we don’t know about allowing these people to operate.
“It is unfair to us that we pay a lot of money in taxes to the Government but someone can operate their pirate taxis willy-nilly and no one is doing anything to get rid of them. Something has to be done before this thing blows out of proportion,” said Mr Ndlovu.
Tshova Mubaiwa Transport Company chairperson Mr Samson Mabunda said the buck lay with authorities who were clearly failing to deal with the pirate taxis judging from the fact that instead of decreasing these operators were increasing by the day.
“It’s not like no one knows where these pirate taxis operate from. It is no secret but the problem is with our authorities, they seem not interested in addressing the matter. Even if today we decide to take matters into our own hands we won’t succeed at all.
“We need those who know that it is their duty to deal with these pirate taxis to pull up their socks and do what they are expected to do,” said Mr Mabunda.
Pirate taxi operators interviewed hit back saying they were simply in business and they were not fighting anyone.
“What you have to realise is that to us this is a business; there is no other way I can make money if I am told that I have to stop ferrying passengers. Besides, it is our passengers who have begged us not to abandon them because we have been operating here for the past five years some of us.
“I, however, feel it is unfair for these kombis to employ bouncers to threaten us, we are not fighting anyone here, we are simply trying to make an honest living,” said a pirate taxi operator who identified himself as Tendai.
Another operator bragged that no one could do anything to them as they had the full support of the public.
“Put a kombi here and I take my car and we see what people will prefer to board, just look we changed our pick-up points but people followed us here, we are doing this for our passengers,” said the operator who declined to be named.
Some of the pirate taxis that have been forced to adopt new ranks after being barred and are continually engaging in running battles with the bouncers include those that are operating from the corner of 9th Avenue and George Silundika (Famona, Greenhill, Hillside, Morningside, Montrose and Newton West), corner Jason Moyo and 9th Avenue (Suburbs, Kumalo, Parklands and New Parklands) and corner Jason Moyo and 8th Avenue (Paddonhurst and Romney Park)
According to the policy Bupta Limited Public Company services the area east of Plumtree Road, covering all the low- and medium-density areas and northern areas as well as the western areas stretching from Richmond through Cowdray Park up to Khami Road.
Tshova Mubaiwa Transport Company on the other hand is meant to service the area lying between Plumtree Road and Khami Road. Of the two companies Tshova Mubaiwa has the smaller service area in the city.
Speaking during a Press briefing recently, BCC director for engineering services Engineer Simela Dube said that there was no going back on the policy and that more companies were still being accepted but had to meet the set criteria. He also revealed that the two companies had chosen the routes themselves without any interference from council officials.
“We had expected a more complicated process in terms of selecting of routes but we were surprised how simple it was as the two companies brought to us a more simplified map stating their preferred routes, which is what we took and are operating with.
“However, I should emphasise that this policy is subject to be changed anytime in terms of the companies who can come in, in other words more players are free to come in as long as they meet the set criteria,” said Eng Dube.
In a schedule released by the local authority 3 April had been set as when the policy would be put on a trial run for 14 days and be launched on 9 May after the signing of a service level agreement on 17 April.
However, a day after launching the trial run the city council went back on the policy after it was fiercely resisted by commuter omnibus owners.
Among other things the policy sought to stop individual ownership of kombis. However, Minister of Transport and Infrastructural Development Dr Obert Mpofu proclaimed that transporters should not be forced to join professional organisations.
The Bulawayo Public Transport Policy was formulated in 2011 with input from the police, Traffic Safety Council of Zimbabwe, Vehicle Inspection Department, civic organisations in the city, public transporters, media houses and the Environmental Management Agency.
