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Yvonne Ncube, Showbiz Reporter
THEY are persona non grata in the streets of Bulawayo and beyond.
In the eyes of many, they are viewed as individuals who lack etiquette.
They are kombi drivers.
People frequently associate them with rudeness, crudity, immaturity, vulgarity, utter corruption, and being extremely loud with no normative decorum.
Some regard them as characters devoid of humanity, characterised by all odds and mischief in the community, and as a result, they have become police foe.
They are suspects in any promiscuity.
Although some of the metadata cannot be completely separated from their foreheads, it is concerning that their positive impact on people’s lives has gone unnoticed.
Some drivers have entered this business as a means of putting food on the table for their families, so painting them all with the same brush is unjustified.
Without such people, the general populace would be forced to live a life of begging for rides from car owners who, in most cases, have no interest in transporting passengers.
Chances of people being able to afford a taxi on a daily basis are slim to none, hence commuter omnibuses assist a large number of Zimbabweans in reaching various destinations at affordable prices.
Despite the lifesaving services they provide, kombi drivers have not been recognised and have received criticism from the left, right, and centre from the very people they seek to serve.
They are the first people to get up in the morning to serve the early birds who necessitate their services before sunrise.
They deprive themselves of sleep in order to ensure that school-going children arrive on time at their respective schools.
They are once again the last people to sleep because it is their daily goal to park in deserted streets every evening to accommodate night riders who require their services.
They are selfless beings who have succumbed to the pressures of those they serve.
A typical kombi can carry 19 people, including the driver and the conductor, which means that the driver is responsible for 18 lives, all of whom rely on him to get them home safely.
Parents rely on these drivers to return their children safely home.
Husbands rely on them to bring the wife home alive to cook for the children, while wives wait for the driver to bring the husband home with nourishment. The list goes on and on.
The drivers are met with numerous road hazards and must endure driving challenges such as reckless drivers, potholes, and careless pedestrians for the sake of their customers’ safety.
Some people have given up on their social lives because they work 24 hours a day and seven days a week. They no longer have time to spend with their own families.
It is past time for the public to give credit where it is due and to not let the bad outweigh the good.
Chronicle Showbiz caught up with one outspoken kombi driver who opened up about how they feel about the societal neglect they face on a daily basis.
“We’ve faced this deprivation from the public for long a time now.
As much as it affects us, we’ve grown a thick skin and are no longer that much affected as before. When I ventured into this business, the stereotypes lived.
“Never a time in my eight years in this job have I ever heard anyone actually recognising our work, but we’ve lived a life dedicated to taking our customers safely to their destinations.
We work from Sunday to Saturday 24/7 because we know that somehow someone somewhere is in need of our services.
“Personally, I find my children already asleep and in the morning, I leave before they wake up.
This is not because I cannot dedicate a day to them, but it is because of my loyalty to customers.
If all of us are to take a day off what would happen to our valued customers,” said the driver who only identified himself as Marshal.
He admitted that some of his colleagues subject them to such labelling from society.
“It is not a secret, so I will not deny that some drivers do some ills that are unspeakable, but all I ask is that people should not subject the entire race because of the actions of the few.
At least it would be realistic to say that Kingsley or Shadreck is a drunkard than to say kombi drivers are negligent drunkards. I think that’s what humanity accords.
“Our customers should appreciate us because we’ve sacrificed a lot for them.
We could be out there having the time of our lives with our families but we choose to be of service to them.
It’s about time we also get credit for our hard work just like doctors and other professions.
It’s all we ask and we hope it’s not too much,” Marshal said.
A commuter said she had never looked at the positive side of the works done by kombi drivers.
“It’s only now that I realise that they’re actually heroes whom we’ve never acknowledged.
I’d never actually really sat down and gave myself time to think about kombi drivers being our heroes. For all my life, I’ve been limited to how society has painted them.
“I do realise and admit that it’s utterly unfair to paint all of them with the same brush which was inconsiderate and inhuman.
From today onwards, I’m a self-initiated advocate for them. The bad should not be allowed to erase the good,” said Nokuthaba Moyo from Lobengula. — @SeehYvonne
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