Christopher Farai Charamba Review Correspondent —
“It is clear that there is need for a shuttle service in Harare. People need to be able to get around the city quickly and easily. Unfortunately, a proper service of such nature does not exist. The mushishika issue will not go away until this is tackled. These mushikashika operators have identified a gap in the market and offer a service to this niche so they will be around for a while.”
The issue of pirate taxis and illegal taxi ranks infamously known as ‘mushikashika’ is one that has plagued the nation’s capital Harare and left the Harare City Council with a massive challenge of how to deal with the problem.
PASSENGER SITTING PRECAURIOUSLY IN AN IPSUM ALONG CHINHOYI STREET
The mushikashika have increased exponentially and can be seen speeding in Harare’s city centre with some of their touts hanging from the rear of the vehicle. With reckless regard for passengers, other motorists and pedestrians, mushikashika have been the cause of accidents, injury and the loss of life.
In May this year at an illegal taxi rank outside Girl’s High School, a Form Four student at the school, Joceyln Gomba was killed and another person injured when a kombi sped off against the flow of traffic at the corner of Park Lane and Leopold Takawira Street.
At the time, the Harare City Council said it would deal with the matter and close the illegal rank outside the school, and push the commuter operators back to Market Square, yet to this day, illegal operators still thrive outside Girl’s High School.
Recently, as reported in The Suburban, the City Council gave itself a 100-day ultimatum to remove mushikashika from the streets of Harare. If the public shuns illegal operators and undesignated pick-up points the city council believes it can rid itself of the mushikashika problem.
To this effect, the Harare City Council recently amended by-laws dealing with commuter operators and taxis. The amended by-law makes it an offence for one to drive or have passengers hanging from a moving vehicle.
“No person travelling upon any auto-cycle, goods vehicle, motor cycle, motor vehicle, omnibus, pedal cycle, public service vehicle, taxi or any moving vehicle may cling to or attach or hang or suspend himself or herself to such a vehicle,” reads part of the amended by-laws.
This by-law targets mushikashika specifically as they tend to be the main offenders. City Council’s Acting corporate communications manager Michael Chideme said the amended by-laws would aid in efforts to get rid of mushikashika.
“We have amended the city traffic by-laws and this will allow us to clamp down on these illegal car operators.
“Many of the operators move around with people hanging from the vehicles and now we have the law on our side and can fine them and take other necessary action. This should be a deterrent to the operators,” Chideme said.
Council is adamant that it will get rid of the Mushikashika scourge. It also has a plan to plug the gap which the unregistered cars will leave in Harare’s transport system.
“Very soon we are going to invite bus operators to come forward to express interest in providing urban transport and create possible synergies between them and the city council,” Chideme said.
It is their belief that the educational campaign they have embarked on will reduce the number of these illegal taxis.
“We have been engaging in educational campaigns with drivers and vehicle owners informing them of the unlawful nature of their operations,” said Chideme.
The positive responses they have been receiving since the inception of the campaign is giving them hope that a fully regulated public transport system in Harare is attainable within four months.
But if one is to base on their track record, there are doubts as to whether this will be attained and whether the city can resolve the problem of mushikashika.
In February 2015, when the issue of touts harassing public transport operators and the commuting public was reported, the Urban Commuter Omnibus Operators Association said they were working in conjunction with council to rid the city of Mushikashika. Twenty-two months later the city is still facing the same problem.
In January this year, police embarked on operation “Kwete Mushikashika” where illegal commuter operators had their cars impounded. Three days into the operation over 100 vehicles had been impounded, yet this too has failed to stop mushikashika.
In May, Home Affairs Minister Ignatius Chombo said there would be a blitz to rid Harare of Mushishika.
Speaking to Senate, Minister Chombo recognised that there was a growing problem of these pirate vehicles which often load five to six people into small vehicles such as Toyota Raums, Vitz, Madza Demios, Honda Fits and Spacios and speed across the city centre.
When Jocelyn Gomba was killed there was a public outcry and a demonstration by Girl’s High students and staff to move the illegal rank away from the school’s premises. This howeve,r did not yield any results despite promises by the City that there would be changes.
The mushikashika conundrum has plagued the city and despite talk, there has been little meaningful action to this effect.
One of the issues that have been raised by the public and commuter operators is that mushikashika have become necessary to the commuting public. Paul Dube said that he often catches a pirate taxi to make it across town faster.
“I live in Eastlea and so drop off at Fourth Street bus terminus. I then have to cross all the way to NetOne Building, close to where I work. It’s faster for me to do so if I hop into a pirate taxi than wait for a kombi,” he said.
Dube acknowledged that there was a risk in using these pirate taxis as they are not safe but said that there was little else he could do if he wanted to make it to work on time.
“Most of these small Honda Fits and Raums I don’t think have been serviced for years. The conductor will be hanging out at the back and because there will be a minimum of six people in the vehicle, it will be really low.
“The driver will also be speeding and sometimes you have to tell him to slow down. But there is nothing that we can do about that. At the end of the day I just want to get from one end of town to the next and this is what I use,” he said.
Urban development strategist Mr Percy Toriro said there is need for a holistic approach in dealing with the issue of mushikashika.
“It is clear that there is need for a shuttle service in Harare. People need to be able to get around the city quickly and easily. Unfortunately, a proper service of such nature does not exist.
“The mushishika issue will not go away until this is tackled. These mushikashika operators have identified a gap in the market and offer a service to this niche so they will be around for a while,” he said
Mr Toriro added that it was important for the problem to be dealt with in an orderly fashion.
“All that needs to be done is for the authorities to sit down and plan a proper shuttle service with orderly routes and times. Once this is in place and it works efficiently, then you will find that the mushikashika crisis will be no more. The key thing is that there be planning and order.”
Interactions with commuters who use mushikashika and kombi drivers revealed how corruption by council workers deployed on the streets is fuelling the problem.
A driver from the City Warren Park route who uses the illegal pick-up point at the corner of Jason Moyo Avenue and Chinhoyi Street said the 100-day ultimatum was meaningless.
He thinks the arrest of passengers boarding kombi’s from mushikashika pick-up points will only deter them for a few days.
“Last time council pushed touts out of town but they made their way back just after three months. The chaos returned and now touts that even include uniformed forces are controlling illegal ranks in the central business district.
“We bribe council officials deployed on the streets and they let us carry passengers at the mushikashika ranks,” claimed the driver who identified himself as Kuda.
He added that they make more money when they load from illegal pick-up points as they cater for passengers in a hurry to get to their destination.
“The system they introduced of going back and forth to the Colcom Holding bay is a waste of time. I have a target to meet and cannot wait for an hour before I load the next passengers,” he added.
Zimbabwe Union of Drivers and Conductors (ZUDAC) president Mr Fradreck Maguranhinga said the 100-day ultimatum from the Harare City Council was welcomed by commuter operators but would need all stakeholders to deal with the issue.
“The problem of mushikashika can be tackled but it requires input from all stakeholders. We have to look at why there has been a rise of mushikashika and then deal with it.
“One of the major issues is that when the ranks were moved they were placed too far and this left a void in the city. Another issue is that people want to be able to move around quickly.
“Mushikashika have sprung up where old ranks used to be and also people can find transport to where they are going close to where they work rather than across town to the official rank,” he said.
Mr Maguraninga added that the inclusion of all stakeholders could be a clear way forward as everyone has different concerns.
“Council has noble intentions to deal with mushikashika but the problem is that they do not speak to the operators, the drivers, the conductors and even the passengers.
“If we are all brought to the table in these 100-days, then we can find a solution that caters to everyone’s needs.
“But if council tries to go it alone then we will not go anywhere. The stakeholders are also needed to prevent corruption.
“This is one of the reasons why mushikashika is active but if people from the council, the police, the drivers’ unions and even the public are there to check, especially what happens after a car is impounded, then we can definitely win on the corruption issue,” he said
According to Mr Maguraninga, ZUDAC is also keen to support the idea of people pre-paying for tickets and using mobile money systems to pay for their tickets.
“There are members of the public who have expressed concern at prepaid tickets. What is necessary for it to work is organisation and proper ranks.
“We are also ready for people to pay using EcoCash as this is how technology is moving. But again this involves there being order first in the industry and proper involvement of all stakeholders,” he said.
What seems to be the case is that mushikashika are a symptom of a larger problem of commuting in the city. It would therefore be prudent for the City Council and other stakeholders to focus their efforts on dealing with the fundamental problem rather than trying to cure the symptom.
Feedback: christopher.charamba@zimpaper.co.zw