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Nqobile Tshili Chronicle Reporter
THE Zimbabwe National Roads Administration (Zinara) started charging newly gazetted toll fees on the country’s highways yesterday as the High Court reserved judgment on an application filed by human rights lawyers seeking to nullify the increase.
Last week, the government announced a cabinet-approved increase in toll fees to come into effect yesterday, but there had been resistance in some quarters over the increases.
According to the government notice, light private vehicle fees went up to $2 from $1 with minibuses now forking out $3 from the previous $2. Buses are now paying $4 from $3 while heavy vehicles pay $5 up from $4. Haulage trucks are the hardest hit as they are now being charged $10 from $5.
A snap survey conducted at Umguza tollgate along Bulawayo-Victoria Falls Road and the Ntabazinduna tollgate along Bulawayo-Harare Highway revealed that motorists were paying the new fees.
On Wednesday, the Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR) on behalf of motorists through their lawyers Joshua Shekede and Givemore Madzoka of Wintertons law firm filed an urgent chamber application at the Harare High Court demanding the newly gazetted toll fees to be reversed.
High Court judge Justice Joseph Mafusire reserved judgment indefinitely in the matter.
In an interview yesterday Shekede, the ZLHR lawyer, expressed disappointment over the government’s move to proceed with the toll fees increase while the matter was pending in the courts.
“It was our feeling that they will suspend the toll fees increase pending the High Court hearing of the matter. It’s common practice that when a matter is still in litigation, the harm is suspended,” said the lawyer.
Shekede said no date has been set for the judgment.
He urged motorists to pay the new fees pending the finalisation of the matter.
Zinara’s lawyer, Farai Mutamangira, was quoted by our Harare Bureau yesterday saying ZLHR’s application does not stop them from collecting the new fees.
The increase in tollgate fees comes at a time when there is public concern over the state of the country’s roads, a majority of which have outlived their lifespan and are now littered with potholes.
ZLHR, which described the 100 percent increase as “unreasonable” wants the new fees nullified arguing that the economy was not doing well and that motorists were already grappling under the old toll fees.
In a statement yesterday, ZLHR spokesperson Kumbirai Mafunda said their lawyers were contending that Transport and Infrastructural Development Minister Dr Obert Mpofu had violated Section 68 of the Constitution as read together with Section 3 of the Administrative Justice Act in announcing the new fees.
Section 63 of the Constitution says every person has a right to administrative conduct that is lawful, reasonable, and proportionate among others.
It adds that the country’s laws must provide for a review of administrative conduct by a court or an independent tribunal.
Dr Mpofu is on record saying the government was collecting $40 million annually from tollgates, which he said was far too little to quicken the national road rehabilitation programme.
He said the increase in toll fees was meant to enable the government to raise funds to rehabilitate the roads and infrastructure.
The poor road network has also been blamed for the spate of accidents that continue to claim thousands of lives each year.
Online Reporter