Second blitz on kombis, vendors in pipeline

Harare provincial police spokesperson Inspector James Sabau said they carried out an evaluation of the first phase and identified challenges, advantages and disadvantages they faced.
During the operation, kombis without proper documents were not allowed into the city centre, while some were impounded.
The operation was aimed at decongesting the city centre.
Insp Sabau said during the operation, they impounded over 350 kombis without proper documents such as route permits and passenger insurance.
“When we were conducting the operation, we discovered that some operators were lying to the people that the police were not allowing kombis into the city centre,” he said.
Insp Sabau said this saw some operators dropping passengers on the outskirts of the city, forcing them to walk to work.
“The reason why they didn’t want to get into town was because they did not have the required documents to be on the roads and feared that their commuter omnibuses would be impounded,” Insp Sabau said.
He said they discovered that some commuter omnibus operators with the required documents joined the bandwagon of overcharging commuters.
“We once held a meeting with representatives from the Commuter Omnibus Association and we agreed that they should not overcharge commuters but surprisingly some of them did not take heed of this,” Insp Sabau said.
He said police officers were still on the ground, enforcing the law and would not hesitate to arrest anyone found on the wrong side of the law.
The recent joint council and police blitz on kombis and vendors triggered acute transport problems that left hundreds of commuters stranded in Harare.
Heavy police presence at drop-off and pick-up points in the city and roads leading into the city centre forced many kombi operators to withdraw their services.
Some kombi crews were seen dropping off passengers on the outskirts of the city, forcing them to walk long distances into the Central Business District.
The operation was aimed at decongesting the CBD. Commuter bus operators with proper documents cashed in on the situation and increased fares to between US$1 and US$2, up from US$0,50 per trip.
Commuters said the operation was inconveniencing them, while Kombi operators dismissed the blitz as a fundraising gimmick.
They said instead of confrontation, they were willing to talk to the police and city officials.