Chemhere: Hwindi with 26 years of experience

Ray Bande
Senior Reporter
COMMUTERS of different generations who have been using public transport, especially kombis, on a daily basis, from the Central Business District (CBD) to Chikanga high-density suburb in Mutare, have, one way or the other, bumped into him.
With a sharp, but persuasive, coaxing and cajoling voice that earned him the nickname Chemhere, he lures commuters to his kombi and ensures not much time is wasted loading at the terminus.
Unlike many in his trade, who have had numerous brushes with the law for different crimes, he has only slept in a police cell once in the 26 years he has earned a living from collecting bus fares while standing at the kombi door.
His name is Joshua Mangana (57).
For some reason, agile, alert, bright-skinned like a teen and, above all, polite, Mangana looks way younger than his real age, and only a conversation with him will unravel the gentle side of this abhorred trade popularly known as chihwindi.
“I was born in Bvudzi Village in Bikita, learnt at Mapoff Primary School in Vumba, where my dad was working at Wattle Company. I attained secondary education at Chayamiti Secondary School in Chimanimani up to Form Four. After that I worked for Zimbabwe Wholesale near the now Main Bata. After its closure, I worked at PG Zimboard opposite Mutare Board and Paper Mills. I was retrenched with the coming in of the Economic Structural Adjustment Programme (ESAP) of 1992.
“I had a family to feed, and that is when I started working for an Emergency Taxi (ET) – a form of public transport used back then Peugeots 504 and 404) owned by the late Fungai Chikonye. I worked for almost five years plying the City-Marymount route, and later worked for Mapfumo on the same route. After working for Mapfumo, I joined B and C Bus Company as a conductor and later Msabaeka also as a conductor,” he said.
Mangana’s trade took him beyond Mutare.
“I later joined Power Coach Bus Company in Harare as a conductor. I worked on the City-Kuwandzana-Mbare local route in Harare. I worked there for one and a half years before coming back to Mutare because the cost of living in Harare was way beyond my reach. That is when I joined Ceaser Manyuchi later Isau Mupfumi.
“Later, I joined local kombis at Manjeya kombis, and since then I have been working in kombis.”
For Mangana, there is no job that is dishonourable as long as it feeds one’s belly and family.
“There is no job that should be looked down upon. What is important is to feed the family. I also urge fellow hwindis not to give us this reputation of being unruly. At the end of the day we do this to feed our families,” he said.
Even when one encounters rowdy or unruly characters in their line of trade, there is always an amicable way of solving issues.
“One incident that I remember is when I used to ply the Mutare-Masvingo route. One passenger did not want to pay. I took him to Birchenough Bridge Police and we proceeded with our journey. I plead with people in our termini to learn to respect the police and all the people that we meet at pick-up points so that we can all work to feed our families,” said Mangana.
Why and how was he nicknamed Chemhere? “The name Chemhere started when I used to lure people to our kombi more than anyone else at Metro Peach Rank when there used to be a gum tree. I was nicknamed Chemhere because of the attention-seeking antics I performed and my voice. Since 1999 until now I have been in this business.
“I remember Mukoma Isau (Mupfumi) was a police officer attached to the national highway. He had a motorbike while stationed at Mutare Central Police Station. Other officers I knew back then with surnames were Shariwa, Chineka, Murandu with Madhawu as officer-in-charge. Back in those days, Mukoma Goose (the late businessman, Misheck Chesa) was a driver at ZUPCO,” he said, adding that he was arrested once in more than two decades of working as a hwindi, and his crime had nothing to do with rowdy behaviour.
“Unlike my younger colleagues who always have brushes with the law, I was only arrested once during the price control days when we used to have Dispol Chani. I was acquitted in court after I had presented my case that decisions on prices were beyond my control,” he said. For Mangana, respect at the public transport pick-up points has to be mutual.
“It is also important that those who control our termini must learn to respect us as conductors and drivers. Mutual respect, without violently handling each other. At my age, I do not wake up to harass anyone. We also assist people. I once helped someone when we were coming from Chiredzi. The person had been left behind by Mhofu Yemukono bus together with his wife. We picked him up in Tshovani, Chiredzi, I wrote a pay-forward ticket and made him sign the ticket. He also wrote the company name where he worked. He paid the money after three days,” he said.
Mangana urged public transport operators to prioritise maturity when employing people.
“Today’s transport operators must prioritise employing mature people in this business because most of the altercations and accidents are being caused by inexperienced people in the industry. I have a wife and seven children. My first daughter is a nurse in Masvingo, with other children who are married and others in college and in school. I raised this family from this job, hence my respect for the industry and all its stakeholders,” he said.