Online Reporter
Fatima Bulla-Musakwa
MAY 12, 2026 will forever be etched in Mr Kennedy Mupfururi’s mind as the day his heart was ripped apart, never to be mended completely again.
He woke up early morning thinking that the day would routinely unfold as usual.
The routine out of his home always started with his instructor job of taking learner drivers through their lessons commencing as early as 6.30am.
His brother Regis also did likewise. From Zengeza, where they both resided, they would go to their workplace together. But on this day, they had gone to work coming from different locations, and the routine would forever be altered.
Moments after he arrived at his work place with his mind set on the programme of the day, Mr Mupfururi received a phone call from a workmate.
Bearing bad news, the caller notified him that his brother, Regis had been involved in an accident. According to his assessment of the outlook of the accident, things were not looking good.
Regis was also a driving instructor, who just like him, had started conducting a lesson with a learner driver that morning. As brothers they started showing prospective drivers the ropes as far back as 1995.
Upon arrival at the accident scene at the intersection of Rekayi Tangwena and Belvedere Road, Mr Mupfururi was informed that his brother had been rushed to Sally Mugabe Central Hospital.
From the impact, Regis sustained two broken ribs which pierced a part of the liver and, diaphragm making it difficult for him to breathe.
He was pronounced dead at Sally Mugabe Hospital, leaving behind three children and a wife as well as his parents who were under his care.
Mr Mupfururi was devastated.
“My brother was a bread winner to his wife and children as well as our father, I feel if justice is to be served, something must be done about reckless driving. The car was the source of income and now that’s all gone,” he said.
For the first six months of each of the past five years, accidents have been on the increase with learners and instructors increasingly facing risk.
Teaching people to drive is becoming increasingly dangerous in Zimbabwe. The life of instructors and learners on the roads face a growing threat with each passing day as the contempt by other experienced drivers deepens.
While the road rules call for drivers to exercise caution when there is a vehicle displaying an ‘L’ plate, signalling that the individual on the wheel is under instruction, the growing trend has been the opposite.
Hooting, shouting at and cutting across a vehicle driven by a learner has become the order of the day as impatient experienced drivers speed off feeling inconvenienced by the mistakes and delays caused by learner drivers.
Among the impatient culprits are commuter omnibuses, pirate taxis and some private vehicles.
Instead, exercising caution is expected when they encounter a vehicle with an L plate which indicates that the driver is not experienced and is under instruction.
“Patience and exercising caution anytime you see a learner is the only remedy we can try to avoid accidents. Also, there must be a law that if somebody disturbs a learner or hoots at a learner, they must be arrested,” Mr Mupfururi said.
Government has in recent years been working on programmes like two pilot projects of which one involves installation of cameras at various traffic lights to curb incidences of drivers speeding through red lights.
Breathalysers have been introduced to test for alcohol among drivers. With the police also introducing motor cycles to be used in traffic enforcement and patrols, this could curb misconduct perpetrated against learner drivers and their instructors.
While acknowledging efforts that have been done by Government departments and agencies to promote road safety, Mr Cyprian Maseka, chairperson of Harare Driving Schools Instructors Association lamented the inconsiderate and risky conduct learner drivers endure on the roads.
“Drivers are not respecting learners when they are conducting their duties, drivers must exercise extreme caution. I don’t know what ways can be followed for us to train our learners until they are experienced without life threatening encounters with commuter omnibuses and mushika-shika (pirate taxis),” he said.
The association claims that they encounter at least 10 hit and run cases with pirate taxis and commuter omnibuses which go unreported.
There are growing calls for the police, TSCZ and other enforcers of road rules and regulations to ensure that new drivers go through the defensive driving course.
“What I know is when a vehicle is displaying an ‘L’ plate, a driver must be very cautious, even the fact that people hoot at learners, that should be an offence. Most drivers have become monsters on the road,” Mr Mupfururi.
With TSCZ transforming into an agency, it will possess enforcement powers critical to the fight against road carnage. As an agency, TSCZ will possess powers to issue out a fine or ticket for misconduct on the roads.
“There is no one measure, but a combination of all measures put together should be able to see us win this battle against road carnage, and to us that’s the way forward,” TSCZ managing director, Mr Munesu Munodawafa said.
Driving instructors turn possible casualties as contempt for learner drivers deepens.
