Destroying clamp backfires

Latwell Nyangu

A HARARE motorist has been fined US$372 for destroying a City Parking clamp.

The vehicle was flagged by the City Parking system and towed.

A docket was prepared for investigations of malicious damage to property and it became a criminal case.

City Parking’s chief inspector of investigations, Yakub Musa, told H-Metro that they had received a report about the motorist from their parking marshals on May 15 and made a follow-up.

“The motorist drove into town and paid his parking fee, but our system flagged his car and it was towed.

“He admitted to the charge and was made to pay for damaging the clamp,” Musa said.

A motorist has to pay US$57 for their vehicle to be unclamped, and failure to pay on the day attracts another fine of US$75, making it US$132 in total on the day. Forcefully removing or destroying the clamp to evade payment attracts penalties of US$50 for the clamp and US$20 for the lock.

The towing fee is US$120 and storage fee US$50 a night. Musa warned car buyers and sellers to change ownership to avoid unnecessary inconveniences.

“People are selling cars without changing ownership and it complicates the arrest of those breaking parking laws.”

Inspector Dalubuhle Ndlovu, who is responsible for the Control Room, said 276 vehicles have been blacklisted for vandalising clamps since February.

“Some even hire people to vandalise clamps and we have records of such cars.

“We report them to the police and get an RRB number. Once the process is done, we enter it into our system and add the car to our blacklist.

“Once it’s in the system, our marshals on the ground will be updating when the car pays for parking in town, and the system automatically flags a blacklisted car.

“We then alert our officers and tow the car until the owner follows all the procedures. People should know the risks of vandalising the clamps, and we are warning motorists to pay their fees because we will eventually catch up with you.”