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. . . Elsewhere in this edition we carry an article about a lobby by the Traffic Safety Council of Zimbabwe to have the use of certain vehicles as pirate taxis banned.
Interestingly, these taxis have never been licensed although they now operate side by side with registered taxis to a point where they have increasingly gained acceptance among commuters.
While we share the view of the TSCZ that pirate taxis have become a nuisance and a source of much conflict as they regularly clash with registered commuter omnibuses, we believe that it is not the vehicles that have a problem but the abuse that they endure that has led to the outcry.
The outcry stems from the fact that many of the Honda Fit vehicles and Toyota Wish have been used in committing crime, in ferrying passengers illegally and overloading leading to frequent accidents.
Most urban areas and even peri-urban areas are now awash with such pirate taxis, robbing registered transporters of business in the process.
It has become a source of employment for many people that can afford to import the light passenger vehicles from Japan.
We believe the industry should be regulated as the taxi industry has always been.
It is the lack of ease of registration and regulation of such vehicles that has led to the mushrooming of a strong unregulated transport sector.
While it cannot be denied that the pirate taxis provide a service, it is important that this should be done within the confines of the law and with the safety of the passengers being uppermost in the operators’ minds.
Sadly, for now that does not appear to be the case.
Due to overloading of the vehicles on the numerous trips that they make in a day, most of the taxis are no longer roadworthy, putting passengers’ lives at risk.
The roadworthy vehicles can be registered and used as metered taxis but the unroadworthy ones should certainly be removed from our roads.
The biggest problem is that of operating outside the law, carrying passengers without the necessary insurance and sometimes playing cat and mouse with registered operators, hence putting the lives of passengers in danger.
However, the enormity of the challenge regarding pirate taxis should never be downplayed, since the numbers have grown exponentially and just announcing a ban may not solve the problem.
What should be considered is testing of the vehicles and registration within certain parameters so that they do not go underground while continuing to claim the lives of people or being associated with crime.
It should be education, engagement, resolution and then implementation of the agreed roadmap.
The earlier this is done the better because apart from the traffic jungle on the roads, we fear if left uncontrolled the current situation could fester and culminate in taxi wars as what has happened in other countries.
Online Reporter