Killer drivers to face music

Midlands Bureau
THE Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Ministry is reviewing the Road Traffic Act to include deterrent penalties for errant road users, Acting President Cde Emmerson Mnangagwa said yesterday.
Addressing thousands at the Africa Safety Day National Commemorations at Mkoba Stadium in Gweru, Cde Mnangagwa said the ministry is lobbying for lengthy mandatory custodial sentences for errant road users.
The Africa Safety Day National Commemorations that were being held in the country for the first time were held under the theme “Towards Enhancement, Implementation of the African Plan of Action Measures for 2011-2020 Road Safety Decade of Action.”
“I am still responsible for the Ministry of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs so we are looking at the act tiri kuongorora mutemo iwoyo kuti tiwedzere makore,” he said.
“Deterrent penalties must be meted out to errant road users. If stocktheft courts a minimum sentence of seven years imprisonment, why should a driver killer be fined a mere $100 and get away with murder? Road carnage destroys lives, limbs and property hence it is an enemy of economic growth.”
The Acting President said the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education in conjunction with the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructural Development were crafting modalities to mainstream road safety into the national schools syllabi.
“I am enthused to hear that the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education and that of Transport and Infrastructural Development and the Traffic Safety Council of Zimbabwe are now considering the modalities on how best road safety should be mainstreamed into the national schools syllabi.
“The death of six primary school pupils in Zvishavane in a preventable road crash last month was very sad and unfortunate,” he said.
The six primary school pupils from Shabanie Primary died while 14 others were seriously injured in an accident in which a Toyota Granvia they were travelling in veered off the road while trying to avoid a head-on, overturned and rolled several times before landing on its wheels along the Mbalabala-Masvingo road.
The accident occurred at the 117 km peg.
Five of the pupils died on the spot while the other one died upon admission at Zvishavane District Hospital.
The driver, Tapiwa Ncube (20) of Mberengwa has since been arraigned before Zvishavane court.
Cde Mnangagwa pleaded with holiday makers and motorists to exercise extreme caution ahead of the festive season.
“In Zimbabwe, about five people are killed on our roads everyday while approximately 38 persons are injured. According to the Zimbabwe Republic Police, a total of 1,692 people were killed on our roads last year. This was a slight improvement over the previous year which recorded 1,787 deaths due to road carnage. Although there was a slight decrease, the number of deaths are still shocking,” he said.