From Thupeyo Muleya in BEITBRIDGE
AT the turn of the new millennium, anyone arriving here would be welcomed by a chain of Datsun 120Y-model cars at any hiking spot which had made a name for themselves as reliable taxis.
The Datsun makes, most of them 1974 models, are known for their durability.
These, common among them 1200, 120Y and 140Y models, were nimble-footed little creatures that could pass any road and thoroughfare.
But for most of the times, drivers of these pirate taxis were also playing cat-and-mouse with either the Vehicle Inspection Department or the police and the local authority over their roadworthiness.
But times are changing.
Datsun 120Y taxi operators are beginning to sing the blues following the influx of second-hand vehicles from Asian countries such as Japan and Singapore that have been turned into taxis.
In separate interviews, Datsun taxi operators said they were now losing business to the new family of imported cars among them Mazda Familias, Nissan March, Toyota Vitz, Toyota Mark II and Toyota Corollas.
"Before the influx of Ex-Japan vehicles we were having lucrative business but now things are getting bad," decried Tongai Zhou of Duli-badzimu suburb.
"People are now interested in using the new vehicles to shuttle them around the town. For those with Datsun cars we only get business from our traditional clients.
"I can foresee the Datsun cars disappearing in the next three years as they are being outclassed by these newer vehicles.
"I bought two houses in Muche-ke suburb of Masvingo through the proceeds I got from this taxi business. I was operating five Datsun 120Y taxis," he said.
A taxi costs R20 for a single trip around the border town and has been fixed for the past four years.
Beitbridge Town Clerk Dr Sipho Singo said in an interview that they have started registering taxis and commuter omnibuses since the border post was granted town status in April 2006.
"We started regularising the operations of taxis and commuter omnibuses soon after getting the town status.
"We want to do away with the issue of playing running battles with pirate taxi operators.
"Generally, there is a self-transformation within the residents whereby they are now interested in using these new vehicles as taxis rather than the traditional Datsun cars.
"Literally we did not issue any statement that we are phasing out the Datsun, but they are doing so themselves.
"The registration process starts with the vehicles getting a certificate of fitness from the Vehicle Inspection Department of which most of the Datsun vehicles have outlived their lifespan and cannot acquire these certificates.
"However, we are going to deal ruthlessly with those who operate pirate taxis as they will be violating our council by-laws and several traffic regulations," he said.
Dr Singo said they were also working on some routes for the commuter omnibuses and the radius to be covered by the taxis.
"You will realise that as a new town we are putting measures that befit our status and we are grateful that most residents and other stakeholders are complementing our efforts," he said.
The Zimbabwe Republic Police Officer In-Charge of National Traffic in Beitbridge, Inspector Tendai Nyambuya said they were working hand in glove with the local authority and the Vehicle Inspection Department in ensuring that road traffic regulations were being enforced.
"Through our efforts as multi stakeholders we have managed to restore some sanity in the town. As the police we will continue raiding those who do not respect the laws of the land," he said.
Meanwhile, used cars such as those threatening the livelihoods of Datsun taxi operators have also become a niggling national issue.
The used car industry has become the fastest growing business in the country with Harare’s central business district and its environs now dotted with second hand vehicles.
As a result, Government is banning the importation of second hand vehicles above five years in a move aimed at reducing carnage on the country’s roads.
The regulations will take effect on March 1, 2011.
Left hand-drive cars and those older than five years will be affected by the new order.
publisher, The Herald 19 October 2010
www.herald.co.zw
Tuesday, October 19, 2010
Saturday, October 9, 2010
Dad bashes crying baby against wall
By Thupeyo Muleya and Selah Gowero
A 24-YEAR-OLD Beitbridge man has been arrested for allegedly choking his 10-month-old son and bashing his head against a wall after the infant’s cries at night woke him from his sleep.
Webmore Mbedzi from the Malala area under Chief Stauze is now facing attempted murder charges.
Mbedzi was not asked to plead to the charges, which carry a custodial sentence in the event of a conviction, when he appeared before Beitbridge magistrate Miss Gloria Takundwa on Thursday.
He has been remanded in custody to October 20, with the magistrate advising the accused to apply for bail at the High Court.
It is the State’s case that on September 11 this year, Mbedzi was sleeping in his bedroom hut together with his wife and their 10-month-old son.
It is alleged that sometime during the night — as babies are wont to do — the boy began crying and the noise reportedly annoyed the sleeping Mbedzi who also woke up.
The State says the man grabbed the baby by the legs and dangled him in the air for a few seconds before dropping the infant headlong to the floor.
The prosecution alleges that Mbedzi then picked up his son by the throat and while choking him, banged his head against the wall.
The baby was saved from further harm by his mother who wrestled with Mbedzi and snatched her son from him, the court heard.
She left the homestead and went to make a police report that led to Mbedzi’s arrest that same night.
Meanwhile, a Harare woman has been convicted of secretly burying her new-born baby in a pit on the banks of Mazowe River.
Margaret Mulungu (26) was supposed to be sentenced yesterday, but the magistrate Mr Munamato Mutevedzi deferred the matter to Monday.
Mulungu pleaded guilty and was remanded in custody.
She, however, denied that she had killed the child and escaped the infanticide charge because when the body was discovered, it was so decomposed that the cause of death could not be easily ascertained.
Mulungu, a mother of three, lived at Jerera Farm, Nowdale in Harare.
She gave birth to a boy on September 13 at around 4am.
Mulungu said the baby accidentally fell immediately after delivery and died a few minutes later.
Mulungu then travelled a distance of about 1km to the Mazowe River, dug a pit by the bank and buried the body.
The matter came to light 10 days later when Edward Mutandagai, Mulungu’s ex-husband, noticed that the recently pregnant woman did not have a child.
He alerted January Julius, a member of the neighbourhood watch committee.
Julius interrogated Mulungu and she confessed to giving birth to a full-term baby who died soon afterwards and whom she secretly buried.
The body was exhumed and taken to Parirenyatwa Hospital for a post-mortem but the results were inconclusive.
publisher, The Herald 09 October 2010
A 24-YEAR-OLD Beitbridge man has been arrested for allegedly choking his 10-month-old son and bashing his head against a wall after the infant’s cries at night woke him from his sleep.
Webmore Mbedzi from the Malala area under Chief Stauze is now facing attempted murder charges.
Mbedzi was not asked to plead to the charges, which carry a custodial sentence in the event of a conviction, when he appeared before Beitbridge magistrate Miss Gloria Takundwa on Thursday.
He has been remanded in custody to October 20, with the magistrate advising the accused to apply for bail at the High Court.
It is the State’s case that on September 11 this year, Mbedzi was sleeping in his bedroom hut together with his wife and their 10-month-old son.
It is alleged that sometime during the night — as babies are wont to do — the boy began crying and the noise reportedly annoyed the sleeping Mbedzi who also woke up.
The State says the man grabbed the baby by the legs and dangled him in the air for a few seconds before dropping the infant headlong to the floor.
The prosecution alleges that Mbedzi then picked up his son by the throat and while choking him, banged his head against the wall.
The baby was saved from further harm by his mother who wrestled with Mbedzi and snatched her son from him, the court heard.
She left the homestead and went to make a police report that led to Mbedzi’s arrest that same night.
Meanwhile, a Harare woman has been convicted of secretly burying her new-born baby in a pit on the banks of Mazowe River.
Margaret Mulungu (26) was supposed to be sentenced yesterday, but the magistrate Mr Munamato Mutevedzi deferred the matter to Monday.
Mulungu pleaded guilty and was remanded in custody.
She, however, denied that she had killed the child and escaped the infanticide charge because when the body was discovered, it was so decomposed that the cause of death could not be easily ascertained.
Mulungu, a mother of three, lived at Jerera Farm, Nowdale in Harare.
She gave birth to a boy on September 13 at around 4am.
Mulungu said the baby accidentally fell immediately after delivery and died a few minutes later.
Mulungu then travelled a distance of about 1km to the Mazowe River, dug a pit by the bank and buried the body.
The matter came to light 10 days later when Edward Mutandagai, Mulungu’s ex-husband, noticed that the recently pregnant woman did not have a child.
He alerted January Julius, a member of the neighbourhood watch committee.
Julius interrogated Mulungu and she confessed to giving birth to a full-term baby who died soon afterwards and whom she secretly buried.
The body was exhumed and taken to Parirenyatwa Hospital for a post-mortem but the results were inconclusive.
publisher, The Herald 09 October 2010
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