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Bruce Ndlovu
HAVING been labelled as pirate taxi operators in the past by authorities, local taxi service provider Expriccos Taxis is on a mission to rehabilitate its reputation by changing perceptions about how the so-called mushikashika conduct themselves on and off the road.
Mushikashika, as the pirate taxi operators are commonly known around the country, have been accused by authorities of wrecking havoc on Zimbabwe’s city streets.
With fellow taxi operators viewed largely as the face of urban crime in Zimbabwe, Bulawayo’s Expriccos Taxis is making an attempt to make sure that it is not put in the same bracket as rogue elements that have become an everyday headache for both the city fathers and police.
Through various development initiatives, Expriccos has been on a mission to make sure that the community it serves not only benefits from its professional conduct off the road, but also the social responsibility projects it sponsors.
The most ambitious so far has been the installation of street lights along George Silundika and 6th Avenue, during a ceremony that was attended by Bulawayo Provincial Affairs Minister Angeline Masuku and other political and business luminaries.
Expriccos Taxis chairperson Mpikelelo Khumalo said the decision to light up the street where its taxis rank was necessitated by the problems usually faced by passengers who were now easy prey for criminals at night.
“Our customers kept on saying they were falling victim to criminals who were using the darkness around that area to mug and steal from them. That’s when we decided, as an organisation concerned with the welfare of the communities that it serves, to install the street lights,” he said.
However, according to Khumalo, the road towards handing over the street lights to the Bulawayo City Council (BCC) was a long and arduous one, as bureaucratic red tape threatened to derail their plans every step of the way.
Formed in 2008 by more than 20 members who came together after seeing the need to regularise their operations, Expriccos gained official recognition in 2014 when it was given five exclusive parking bays as part of Bulawayo’s urban transport policy.
The Bulawayo urban transport policy is a draft that was approved in October 2012 with the intention of coming up with an efficient transport system that meets residents’ needs.
“As Expriccos, we were major stakeholders of the urban transport policy. We got five taxi bays out of the 545 available in the city. Before we were allocated those five, only 200 were in use with 345 unallocated,” he said.
However, the city’s transport policy is still unsigned and therefore not law and Khumalo claims that this is due to the disgruntlement of some transport operators who felt that one association had been given unfairly large piece of the cake when the bays were allocated.
With this background, Expriccos began to make overtures to hand over street lights to the BCC in 2016. After several delays and letters exchanged back and forth between Expriccos and BCC, the transport operator engaged the services of a lawyer, a move that did not go down well with the town clerk who felt that Expriccos was now trying to legitimatise its operations through the handover of the street lights.
“If we’re illegal, we don’t suddenly become legal by sponsoring the installation of lights. We felt wronged because our intention was just to serve the community,” said Khumalo.
To show the organisations’ sincerity, Khumalo said the installation of lights was not the only social responsibility project they were involved in.
“We sweep our street at least four times a day because where people gather there’s bound to be litter. Maintaining the cleanliness of the environment is one of our core objectives as an organisation,” the Expriccos chairperson said.
However, Khumalo was quick to emphasise that even on the road their members had also distinguished themselves from mushikashika who had become a menace on the road with their blatant flaunting of road rules.
“Like everyone else we’re not angels and our operators do misbehave from time to time. But unlike these mushikashika we have a disciplinary committee that makes sure that when one of own misbehaves they’re quickly checked and put in line.
“We managed to acquire a breathalyser that we use on our drivers without warning. In fact, drunk driving is an offence that demands instant dismissal under our regulations,” Khumalo said.
Expriccos, whose vision is “to be the champion in passenger movement in Bulawayo”, also acquired a tracking system, making sure that its drivers are where they are supposed to be at any given time. The system has also gone a long way in absolving any of its drivers or vehicles of any wrongdoing whenever a crime is committed.
“All of this is done to save lives. The intention is to prioritise the well-being of our customers,” said Khumalo.
However, whether their efforts would be reciprocated by local authorities remained to be seen, as changing their minds was an uphill task.
“We’ve tried to change perceptions about our organisation but it has been tough. When you play a nice a song in front of a deaf audience, it does not matter whether it’s nice or not,” he said.
Online Reporter