adminFarirai Machivenyika-Senior Reporter
The Traffic Safety Council has submitted principles that will guide the envisaged Road Accident Fund (RAF) to the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure Development amid calls for Parliament to enact a law to establish the fund.
This was said by acting TSC general manager Mr Clifford Gobo when he appeared before the Portfolio Committee on Transport and Infrastructural Development during deliberations of a petition by the Limpopo- Zambezi Transporters Company calling on Parliament to pass a law for the creation of the fund.
Mr Gobo said they had visited South Africa, Namibia and Botswana to learn more on how they run their Funds.
“As far as where we have gone now we have actually presented the principles for the establishment of a Zimbabwean one and the Zimbabwean one will be a hybrid model,” he said.
Mr Gobo said some of the issues they looked at in the principles they submitted include sustainability, source of funds and benefits that would accrue.
The establishment of an RAF has been on the cards since 2016 although an appropriate model is yet to be agreed upon.
In his presentation, Mr Abel Muparadzi, the Limpopo-Zambezi Company administration and research manager, said the fund should compensate and cover victims of traffic accidents.
“This comes at the backdrop of the increasing fatalities brought by the increasing traffic flaw as well as at inadequate Third Party insurance to fully compensate and rehabilitate road accident victims,” he said.
Mr Muparadzi said statistics from the ZRP showed that Zimbabwe loses 2 000 lives annually and an average of 10 000 are injured in accidents.
He added that 77 percent of victims were in the economically active age group of 15-64 years.
Quizzed by members of the committee on how they wanted the RAF to be funded and ran, Mr Richard Lifa said it could be funded by re-directing one of the existing levies on fuel or from third party Insurance.
Committee chairman, Cde Oscar Gorerino, said they would deliberate on the presentations and come up with the way forward.
Meanwhile Mr Gobo also implored Parliament to limit traffic speed to 30 km/hour on roads around schools and business centres to reduce the number of school children and other pedestrians hit by cars.
This followed a petition presented to Parliament by parents with children learning at Highlands Primary School.
Online Reporter