Chronicle Editor
Raymond Jaravaza, Showbiz Correspondent
“IS it safe to park here or not? asks a visibly desperate motorist at the corner of 10th Avenue and George Silundika.
His desperation, from the eyes of a stranger, is coupled with fear and a sense of hopelessness.
Understandably so because parking his vehicle on a ‘wrong spot’ comes with dire consequences – a hefty fine that must be paid before the end of business or risk having his car towed away to an impound lot, where more charges accrue by the day.
The man is asking a newspaper vendor, known to Saturday Leisure as Boniface Ndlovu.
Ndlovu sells newspapers on a street corner whose parking bays are not yet under the management of Tendy Three Investments, otherwise known as TTI Parking Solutions.
Ndlovini – the newspaper vendor – as he is affectionately known to those close to him – has been asked that question countless times.
Motorists drive in circles around the Chronicle building vicinity searching for empty parking bays.
The few that find what appears to be an empty parking bay in front of Ndlovini’s vending stall, always ask if it’s safe to park or not.
He is no municipal worker nor does he hold a brief for TTI Parking Solutions so his response is always the same.
“Park at your own risk. I also have no idea what the parking enforcement guys look for before they decide to tow away your vehicle or leave it,” Ndlovini always tells the motorists.
Parking in parts of the Bulawayo central business district where parking charges do not apply, has now become a job and a half.
Like hot cakes off the baker’s oven, free parking bays are now a priceless commodity. But they come at a cost.
Once one parks in an ‘illegal parking bay’, their vehicle is clamped on the spot.
US$15 is the fine that an offending motorist must pay to get back their vehicle.
It’s a steep price to pay for any motorist, considering the high cost of living in the country and the world in general and no wonder Bulawayo motorists are feeling the pinch.
A huge chunk of the parking space in the Bulawayo CBD is now under the control of TTI Parking Solutions. It costs US$1 for an hour to park in areas under TTI Parking Solutions management.
A few metres from Ndlovini’s corner, a small strip along George Silundika that paves the way for vehicles entering or leaving the NRZ Parkade Centre has also become a hotspot for Bulawayo motorists.
Ordinarily, the area must be always free of traffic to allow motorists access to park or leave the NRZ Parkade Centre.
But out of desperation, motorists either through ignorance or just being stubborn, park their cars on the ‘forbidden’ strip.
Not a day goes by without at least 10 cars being clamped on the same spot. Once clamped, the offending motorist is required to pay a fine before close of business or risk his vehicle being towed away which means extra charges.
If Saturday Leisure photographer Nkosizile Ndlovu was paid every time he snapped a photograph of a clamped car on the NRZ Parkade Centre strip, he would be a wealthy man.
In his own words: “I’ve photographed at least five pictures per day of vehicles clamped on the strip leading to the NRZ Parkade Centre in the last one week.”
Two weeks ago, a fight almost broke out between a motorist and employees of TTI Parking Solutions after they tried to clamp his vehicle for parking in the wrong spot. The gentleman would have none of it.
His argument was that there were no clear road markings indicating that the spot was not a legal parking space.
“I’m still in the car and if this spot is genuinely not for parking, then just tell me and I’ll drive away.
Instead, you guys are just interested in clamping my vehicle yet there are no road markings indicating that parking here is illegal,” fumed the man.
Efforts to calm him down fell on deaf ears as he dared the employees to clamp his car. It was clear he was itching for a fight. The TTI Parking Solutions employees walked away and left the man to drive off.
A few weeks ago, a social media campaign instigating members of the public to boycott TTI Parking Solutions services went viral calling for Bulawayo residents to sign a petition that would force Bulawayo City Council to cut ties with the company.
What irked most motorists was that the US$1 per hour ticket was not transferable to another parking bay within the Bulawayo CBD.
This meant an individual running several errands in the city centre was required to pay US$1 every time they moved their vehicle to another location within the city centre. TTI promptly changed its pricing model.
Under the new arrangement, motorists are now able to transfer their paid parking time to different parking bays during the time that they would have paid for.
“For example, a motorist can purchase a US$1 per hour, or its equivalent pegged at the ongoing bank rate of the RBZ auction Rate, parking at Bay A and can move to Bay B or Bay C as long as it is within an hour,” said a statment from the company.
Before the adjustment, motorists were required to pay at the next parking spot even when the hour they had paid for had not expired.
The BCC entered into a partnership with the private company for the parking system in February.
The company started collecting fees under the first phase of the arrangement on 18 February amid resistance from motorists.
According to the local authority’s monthly minutes released earlier this month, the council gets 30 percent of parking fees and 50 percent of the clamping fines. — @RaymondJaravaza
Online Reporter