Online Reporter
Freeman Razemba
Senior Reporter
THE Traffic Safety Council of Zimbabwe yesterday engaged over 200 driving school instructors in Harare on road safety.
The meeting, which was held in the capital, was attended by instructors as well as owners of various driving schools in and around the city.
TSCZ managing director Mr Munesu Munodawafa chaired the meeting.
In Harare there are at least 200 driving schools out of the more than 820 that are registered countrywide.
In an interview, Mr Munodawafa said they were concerned by an increase in road traffic crashes that continue to be recorded, and that is why they had decided to engage the instructors.
“Under the guidance of our Minister, Honourable Minister Felix Mhona, it was felt that we needed to continue to consult as many stakeholders as possible in our fight to reduce road carnage. And we have noticed that while we have had meetings with owners of various driving schools, with operators of various driving schools, one of the key components in that whole framework, are the instructors themselves.
“The instructors are the teachers; they are the ones who produce the product that we then see on the road.
“And we felt that it was important that we have this kind of engagement. And we have started here in Harare. As you know, in Harare there are about 200 driving schools, out of the 823 or so driving schools nationwide.
“So we felt that if we captured Harare first, we would have touched more than a quarter of the driving schools and instructors. And I want to thank the driving school owners and operators. They have allowed their driving instructors to come through for this exercise,” he said.
Mr Munodawafa said there were certain habits that they had picked in terms of the driving they were seeing on the roads.
“As we have indicated, more than 94 percent of the road crashes in Zimbabwe are attributable to the human being, to the driver. And therefore, we must engage the people who churn out those drivers.
Key issues that emerged in terms of errors on the roads include misjudgment or inattention, which constitutes about 43 per cent of the accidents.
“We have had a very good engagement with them so far.
“The issues that we have talked about include discipline as they impart knowledge to the drivers or potential drivers.
“We have also talked about how they present themselves and their attitude while behind the wheel. Because if somebody is taught to manage road rage, for example, at that level, they are unlikely to fall short when they get on the road and encounter such problems. So we believe this is the first one that we have had as Traffic Safety Council with this particular constituency,” he said.
Statistics show that at least five people die every day, while 200 lives are lost monthly on average due to road traffic accidents in Zimbabwe.
Some of the accidents have been attributed to inattention, following too close, speeding, reversing error and overtaking error.
Others include abuse of alcohol by both drivers and pedestrians, negligence, cellphone usage while driving, not wearing seatbelts, dangerous overtaking at barrier lines and or overtaking in the face of oncoming traffic.
Mr Munodawafa bemoaned the huge number of lives being lost on the roads and said his organisation, together with other key stakeholders, was now raising the bar in fighting road carnage.
“This is in line with our target under the National Development Strategy 1 (NDS1), that is to reduce road crashes, injuries and fatalities by 25 percent by 2025 and 50 percent by 2030. Road crashes are a major public health and safety concern in Zimbabwe,” he said.
Driving School Instructors chairman, Mr Cyprian Maseka, applauded TSCZ for organising the meeting, saying it will go a long way in curbing road carnage countrywide.
He said that, as an association, they had taken note of the concerns that were raised by TSCZ.
He said some of them include that their members were operating without any required documents and assured that, as an association, they will ensure that instructors will comply with the law during their day-to-day operations.
National Association for Zimbabwe Driving Schools chairperson Mr Prosper Dowa also said, “We would like to thank the Traffic Safety Council of Zimbabwe for this noble idea, and it’s one of its kind whose main initiative is to engage both of us, the driving school owners as well as the instructors, in as far as curbing road carnage. Driving School Instructors play a key part in nurturing all drivers countrywide.”
Recently, the TSCZ proposed to transform into an agency with arresting powers to improve its enforcement capabilities.
Currently, the council’s role is limited to raising awareness and providing educational campaigns. Unlike the Environmental Management Agency, which can issue fines and enforce compliance, the TSCZ lacks the authority to penalise offenders directly.
Neighbouring countries like Zambia and South Africa have road safety agencies with arresting powers, putting Zimbabwe at a disadvantage in regional road safety efforts.
The proposal to grant TSCZ arresting powers has been submitted to the Minister of Transport and Infrastructural Development for consideration.
The council has provided the necessary technical input, and the matter now awaits the Government’s decision.
If approved, this transformation would align Zimbabwe with regional best practices and strengthen its road safety enforcement mechanisms.
