Online Reporter
Arron Nyamayaro
A KOMBI driver, who was arrested for overloading pupils during a school run, has been sentenced to four months in prison.
He can alternatively pay a fine of US$400.
Kumbulani Tauzeni, 42, faced multiple charges, including operating without a valid defensive driving certificate.
He was also driving without a valid driver’s medical certificate issued by the General Medical Office (GMO) and carrying more passengers than those which his kombi should carry.
Tauzeni appeared before the Mbare Magistrates’ Court on Monday and was found guilty on all counts.
For failing to possess the necessary defensive driving and medical certificates, he was fined US$100 for each offence or faced 30 days of imprisonment for each.
For the charge of carrying excess passengers, including 35 pupils and three teachers, he was fined US$200 or he would serve an additional 60 days in jail.
The driver was arrested while operating an unroadworthy public service vehicle along Amalinda Road, en-route to a school in Glen Norah.
Tauzeni has been conducting the school run from Fidelity to Kudakwashe Primary School in Glen Norah B.
Oh My God! Where are we going with this kind of punishment? This is the kind of crime that, in civilised societies, would send someone to prison for years. Putting defenceless children in such danger is not like stealing bananas at a market. Where are the so- called Children’s rights activists? This is a serious miscarriage of justice. Did we have to wait for 47 children to die before we accepted that this was a serious crime? Come on people, this sentence is a mockery of what justice should be.