Online Reporter
Freeman Razemba
Senior Reporter
The Traffic Safety Council of Zimbabwe (TSCZ) is finalising the construction of new offices in Masvingo that will provide key road safety services, including defensive driving training, driver training registration and awareness campaigns aimed at reducing road accidents in the province.
The development is part of a broader national plan to roll out similar facilities across the country, in line with the Government’s thrust to leave no one and no place behind.
Transport and Infrastructural Development Minister Felix Mhona, his Permanent Secretary, Engineer Joy Makumbe and Masvingo Provincial Affairs and Devolution Minister Ezra Chadzamira last week toured the offices, which are nearing completion.
In an interview after the tour, TSCZ managing director Mr Munesu Munodawafa said: “This is a double-storey building, and we will be, as Traffic Safety Council, occupying the upper floor.
“In terms of progress, we are now at 96 percent completion. I think it’s just the finishes that remain, the partitioning, and then we will be done in terms of getting the project done.”
He said the target is to have the project ready for commissioning by June 30, before moving to another province.
Mr Munodawafa also said the Government has adopted an artificial intelligence (AI) strategy, with TSCZ recently acquiring vehicles with state-of-the-art equipment for enforcement.
The vehicles can detect unlicensed cars, mechanical defects, stolen vehicles and those with outstanding tickets, among other offences.
“So, the joy of this vehicle is we are looking at a future where people will not have to stop if they don’t need to stop at various roadblocks, because once it reads your number plate, if there are no violations, there is no reason for you to be stopped.
“This will promote free flow of traffic on our roads, while at the same time ensuring that we also increase the level of compliance for the various vehicles. For all defects, you no longer need to have ZBC enforcing vehicle licences and CID Vehicle Theft Squad looking at the number plates because they will all be housed there,” Mr Munodawafa said.
He added that the integrated approach will reduce the number of roadblocks and improve efficiency.
“You need one van and we create a desk for all of them and we create free passage for traffic and promote free flow for traffic on our roads. This technology has been active but implemented by the various agencies, as individual agencies. But now we are promoting that Whole-of-
Government approach so that traffic flows and we reduce the number of roadblocks.”
TSCZ is also seeking to transform into an agency with arresting powers to strengthen its enforcement capabilities.
Currently, the Council’s mandate is limited to awareness and education. The proposed changes would allow it to enforce regulations, issue tickets and coordinate road safety efforts more effectively.
The proposal has been submitted to the Ministry of Transport and is awaiting Government consideration.
If approved, the move will align Zimbabwe with regional best practices, as countries such as Zambia and South Africa already operate road safety agencies with enforcement authority.
