Sundaymail Editor
Tanyaradzwa Rusike
Harare’s public transport system is a perfect example of organised chaos.
Commuters in the city have become accustomed to the disorderly commotion that characterises their daily commute.
The capital’s intra-city transport system comprises a hybrid combination of high-volume buses, private-owned commuter omnibuses (kombis) and the notorious private taxis (mishikashika).
After the Government liberalised the urban transport sector in the early 1990s, private players have been the backbone of Harare’s transport system.
The noble reform of the sector, however, came with its own set of challenges as the city’s population grew and with it demand for an efficient transport system.
The outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic and its attendant preventative protocols laid bare the inadequacies of an unregulated urban transport sector in an ever-expanding metropolitan.
Coupled with the Government’s aspiration to reorganise and modernise the sector, the need to overhaul Harare’s transport sector could no longer be ignored.
The reform programme began with the suspension of privately owned public transporters on March 30, 2020.
State-owned public transporter, Zupco, was given the sole mandate to operate the urban mass public transport system, with all private operators required to register under the parastatal’s franchise.
This was envisaged to bring about orderliness and a methodical transport system that is fit for purpose.
However, daring private operators continued deploying their vehicles onto the city’s roads, where they constantly fought running battles with law enforcement agents.
It soon became clear that Zupco, on its own, would not be able to provide an efficient service, fit for a modern metropolis while illegal transporters exploited opportunities borne out of Zupco’s inefficiencies.
In May, the Government again stepped in, and undertook to liberalise the sector.
Presently, the Attorney-General’s (AG) Office is drafting regulations to repeal Statutory Instrument (SI) 83 of 2020, which banned private transport operators that were not affiliated to Zupco.
To stimulate private sector participation in the reformed sector, Government has already introduced regulations granting operators duty-free permits to import coaches with a minimum carrying capacity of 25 passengers.
The proposed regulations will also provide for different colour codes for private buses and commuter omnibuses plying distinct routes to distinguish them.
In addition, all transporters will be registered under independent associations, for accountability.
Transport and Infrastructural Development Secretary Engineer Theodius Chinyanga told The Sunday Mail that the new regulations now await gazetting.
“Our ministry has already drafted and completed the regulations to monitor transport associations and they are ready for gazetting,” he said.
Exodus
Over the last few weeks, Zupco-branded kombis have been rapidly disappearing from the city’s roads.
An increasing number of operators are withdrawing from Zupco, citing a plethora of challenges, including late disbursement of payments.
Zupco chief executive Mr Evaristo Madangwa confirmed the mass exodus.
He said the development has incapacitated Zupco.
“About 200 Zupco buses that were under our franchise have so far withdrawn their vehicles,” he told The Sunday Mail.
“We are currently carrying out an exercise of removing our stickers from vehicles that are still operating with our branding.
“We are currently refurbishing our existing Zupco buses and by the end of the year, we are hoping to have completed 40 buses.
“We are also expecting a new fleet of buses later this year.”
Early birds
The withdrawal of the kombis from Zupco has coincided with the emergence of distinctly unusual transporters.
Commuter omnibuses emblazoned with brightly coloured texts are increasingly becoming visible on the city’s roads.
Transporters that spurned Zupco are turning to emerging transporter associations. Private operators are joining hands and pooling their vehicles under the umbrella of associations in anticipation of regulations to formalise their operations.
So far, two associations – Greater Harare Association of Commuter Omnibus Operators (GHACO) and Zimbabwe Union of Drivers and Conductors (ZUDAC) – have emerged as the dominant players in Harare.
GHACO already has 260 commuter omnibuses under its ambit, which are all branded in bright green and yellow.
ZUDAC kombis, on the other hand, are branded in green and black.
Operators under the associations, unlike their peers still operating under laws of the jungle, operate with a semblance of orderliness.
Their fares do not fluctuate on a whim, and in most cases they use designated pick-up points.
Crucially, their vehicles are numbered and plastered with the associations’ customer hotlines.
GHACO chairperson Mr Ngoni Katsvairo said the association strives to ensure that its members operate in compliance with the law.
“We are working on the basis of the Presidential public statement, where he said, in May this year, that he has opened up the transport sector in order to alleviate the transport challenges while regulations are being prepared,” he said.
“We are thankful to the listening Government for relaxing some of the restrictions, which has allowed us to do business and assist people.
“We only register operators with all the requisite public service vehicle documentation, which comprise an operator’s licence, insurance cover and a certificate of fitness.”
The association, he said, wants “those operating mishikashika to join us in our efforts to organise our sector as a properly recognised formal business”.
ZUDAC president Mr Fredrick Mguramhinga said opening up the transport sector has created employment for the youths.
“We thank the Government for opening up the transport sector,” he said.
“They have created jobs for the youths.
“We are coming from the Covid-19 period, where most services were closed, so as an association, we are helping our operators acquire all the requisite documentation for them to operate and reorienting them to know how to work in public transport.”
While residents have welcomed the emergence of a moderately organised transport system, fears abound of a return to rowdiness by the kombi crews once the associations are formalised.
Harare resident, Mr Ennias Manuwere, said the operators should be monitored.
“We are happy that the Government is liberalising the transport sector and surely we are seeing more players,” he said.
“However, we ask the responsible authorities to continuously monitor these operators because at times they tend to forget that they are transporting innocent commuters and drive recklessly.”
Online Reporter