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There was confusion at Zimpost branches countrywide as motorists rushed to beat the deadline. Although thousands of motorists encountered problems in securing the discs, Zinara insisted that everyone should have the new vehicle licence by June 1.
The national road authority said it would not grant any grace period and motorists who fail to meet the deadline will be penalised.
Zinara started issuing the new licence discs last Saturday. The new disc has high security features to curb counterfeiting.
Motorists yesterday called on Zinara to extend the deadline for them to register but Zinara head of corporate communications, Mr Augustine Moyo, said there would be no extension. He said the response from motorists was “high” and they were expecting to finish licensing all motorists by June 1.
“It’s a new system and it comes with its own problems but we are working flat out to perfect it. There has been a huge turnout since we started licensing.
“The problem is that most people want to do things at the last minute and this time they would be caught off guard as we are not extending the deadline. What we are only extending is our working hours and we will also work on Saturdays and Sundays to ensure all motorists are cleared,” he said.
Motorists yesterday said the process was tedious as officials had to enter every detail in their computers. They said the system which Zimpost officials were using was slow.
The new discs are being printed instantly as per order from motorists.
“Just imagine waiting for them to load every information about a particular vehicle and they are not considering the fact that some people have got fleets of buses or haulage trucks and I have to wait for more than two hours while that person is being served.
“I have been here (Zimpost Causeway) since 9am and now it is almost 11am and I have not been served and the queue is not moving,” said Mr Roy Moyana of Harare.
Responding to the claims, Mr Moyo said: “We have stated that anyone doing bulk licensing should drop the papers and he will be told the collection date. Only individuals are being served instantly.”
Mr Moyana said Zinara should come up with a more efficient system if all motorists were to be cleared by June 1.
“Without this, it means they have to extend the deadline for us to be on the safe side with the police,” he said.
The new disc will be bar coded and encrypted with security features difficult to decrypt. Another motorist, Mr Ezekiel Mupfumi, said some of the centres Zinara claimed to be issuing the licences had not started functioning. He said the process Zinara had introduced was “disorganised”.
“I was in Mt Pleasant and I went to Southerton and Malborough they are not giving the licences and they do not even know when they would start. This is another reason why all people end up coming to the two or three places that are functional in Harare,” he said.
When motorists buy insurance for their vehicles, they are being issued with application forms to fill information relating to their vehicles. Motorists are required to bring the forms and vehicle registration books for the first time when they buy the new discs.
Zinara claims it lost US$15 million to bogus disc dealers last year alone. The new system will be run from a central server at Zinara head office. The new disc contains all information relating to a vehicle such as make, model and registration number and are in different shapes depending on the classes of vehicles. The discs are serialised and the serial numbers are being recorded in the system.
According to Zinara, there are about 20 000 Zimbabwean-registered vehicles in South Africa, most of which were using counterfeit discs. Zinara has opened an office in Beitbridge for Zimbabweans living in South Africa to license their vehicles.
Online Reporter