The feedback on Munya’s “compensation for depression” continues to pour in. Here are some more comments from our subscribers:

• Mugabe is a disgrace + proves he is Senile. The money cld feed starving children,  not given 2 a LOSER like Munya.
• Kutambisa mari pane zvakawanda zvirikuda mari muzvipatara hazvisati zvaita.
• It’s good to keep our banner raised.
• Munya’s compensation 4 losing is very very unreasonable.
• Does it mean to say that Munya will pocket the whole cash just like that?
• Its more to do with his back ground.  The mother is in government and the father is a well established business man.  Im sure its a way of honouring the family.
• On my opinion that was excelent
• solidarity with munya not bad…may be extent yacho is the one to debate
• HOW COULD WE EXPECT  MUNYA TO WIN I PERSONALLY FEEL IF EACH TEACHER WAS GIVEN USD IO THA THANK YOU FOR IGOT CHICKEN TO CHANGE VIDEO BYE C G MUTAWU
• Zvakanaka bcoz BBA management was not fair on final results.
• wicked and imorality at its climax may god bless the poor, the sick, the homeless and the hungry
• He deserved mo coz dat waznt fair at all.at least BBA hz smthing 2 learn, & did u knw zimbabweans ar natural born ‘winners’ at global scale?
• Its of no use splashing cash on individual yet the nation is suffering
• They are wasting on compansating Munya, instead of donating to poor people, ophans and even civ cervants
• He deserve the price.let the organisers know that we are suprised by giving our loser a token of appreciation that is more than e winner.
• Where is that money coming from? Civil servants are not paid well.yu dont need to work to get money but to play with thozn power
• Thats nonsensical the loss is not compensatory. furthermore u can not claim that he was duped wen countries did not vote for him. do zanu pf wants to hold another big brother africa!
• It could be that he is connected to the good samaritens in some way.
• Munya was not supposed to be given that money ..why .they are failures .how can they give Munya 300  000US$ while the country need money. We need money to pay civil servants.
• As brothers there is nothing wrong. He should not compensate him because if he face problem his brother will help him as well.
• That is the problem with an outdated regime, with very high misplaced priorities.If those people who raised the funds could raise fundraise for only one turbine for our KARIBA ELECTRICITY generation.To me it is stupid, myopic and cheap politicking.
• its a game always there is a winner & loser .we cannot compensate him for a depresion but maybe for  representing us  well did not get lost in his humility
• Munya was a pawn in Mugabe and ZANU PF publicity stunts. They can sink so low to grab any publicity stunt especially after being rebuffed by heroic Mabhena.
• ZVAVO ZVEKUPENGA IZVO.KUTADZA KUSHANDISA MARI YACHO, KANA PAYER MABILLS EMAGETSI. KUNGODA KUCHIPISANA BEDZI ISUTINA KANAMARI YEKU PAYER COACH WENATINAL TEAM
• Its a total shame! The US$300000 should have been donated to critical institutions such as the children homes.
• If there is anything that I have been shocked by in my life is that of Munya. How can a loser be celebrated like that? I think Munya was supposed to be given a depression welcome.
• He must be a relative of a minister or a zanu boy. How many times have they failed to pay our national squad after a win. Shame on them.
• Big Brother sucks, Munya is a rock. Zim must boycott next year’s BBA coz it’s full of beans.
• That’s wasting vanhu vachifa mumamisha nezvirwere pasina mishonga

Following Natasha’s blog about Munya, the Big Brother candidate who got more money from Phillip Chiyangwa for losing the competition than he would have gotten from the show had he won, we wanted to hear what other people thought about this.

We sent out this text message yesterday:

Kubatana! Munya from Big Brother gets US$300 000 for losing. Text us your opinion on him getting “compensation for depression.” www.kubatana.net

So far, we’ve gotten a number of responses, with opinion split among those who think Munya’s $300,000 reward was deserved, and those opposed to it. We share some of these responses below:

• Munya was not supposed to be given that money. Why? They are failures. How can they give Munya $300,000 while the country needs money?
• These are the end of days according to the bible. Saturn is creating new ways to grab people. Don’t be surprised!
• It’s amazing, I think that huge amount should have been given to teachers or orphans.
• Is it the same Munya who kissed and romanced another man in a movie. If a man can kiss another man and walk away $300,000 richer, those anti-gays must
• withdraw their words.
• He is a blood diamond friend somehow
• He has just put the country on the map of Africa but people must accept that he wasn’t robbed, he deserves what he gets. Let them avoid politicking.
• It’s good becuse he is patriotic to his nation.
• Something is amiss. Someone would want to use him to gain some milage politically or otherwise directly or indirectly sooner or later.
• CRAZY
• GOOD FOR HIM
• That is zimbabwe when others who do not appear on tv cannot afford to pay school fees and a not well connected to get 200 dollars.
• I thought he was to win this time. Its worth his effort. Lucky guy
• We Zimbabweans are crazy
• That’s good
• THERE IS MONEY IN THIS COUNTRY AFTERALL CIVIL SERVANTS ARE JUST UNFORTUNATE
• Thats madness of highest propotion wtout priorities v avis social deprivion of masses ie HIV/aids
• Thats was a very good move.may God bless all who contributed.
• I think he deserves every cent. He went thru hell in that hse and still pulled thru 2 the last day
• suffering to continue until further notice
• A waste of resouces
• $5.2 each civil servant could have been better.Where did the monie come from?What did Zim benefit from this BB which is seen by the rich while the poor are forced 2 watch heroes Zbc.
• being given award is not a matter of winning or lossing, but encouranging and supporting
• SURPRISINGLY TRS ARE IN NEED OF A GENUINE PKG BT NOT GETIN ONE FROM E SM MERCIFUL FATHA!
• THERE IS NOTHING WRONG ON MUNYA GETTING THAT MONEY BT ITS ONLY THAT SOME PEOPLE RE TRYING 2 MIX ENTERTAIMENT WITH THEIR POLITICAL AGENDAS!
• Whats the point of giving Munya that amount after losing what about donating 2 Chinyaradzo or Mashambanzou
• My opinion states wastage in their reserves whats their next option.
• I think it is good because it reduces stress
• Abuse of funds
• This is nt a surprise they always did tht instead of giving teachers money they æ busy wasting it.who is Munya and his big brother africa?to hell
• He deserves it he made zim  proud  coz he faced 2 many evictions in the prosses of the competition
• It’s unheard of – you are left wondering what’s gone wrong with our priorities as to reward failure
• If you watched big brother you would understand that the Nigerians cheated us and you would be investigating that. myself   aand everyone i know is standing by Munya and we are not even  Zanu PF people! Unless you are black and watched BB u wont inderstand
• ko icampaign time
• These former political heavy weights are clu tching on anythi ng which can give them mileage
• WHAT A SHAME ITS LIFE LET IT BE SO
• MA ONE PANYAYA YAKE
• Am certain we have better priorities in the country presently…that same amount would have transformed the pathetic,inhumane conditions of Zimbabwe’s prisoners, or even secured ARVs for the infected or better still served as a 13th cheque for civil servants…..GoZ (2010) defines priorities as anything that gets it onto the limelight for all the wrong reasons!!!

The City of Harare has recently been issuing public notices in the press informing residents of flats and apartments about its intentions to phase out the bulk meter billing system. This, I am certain – is a welcome and noble development among most tenants especially in view of the chaos caused by the Zim dollar – US dollar changeover. Tactless estimates were made and coupled with the new currency being beyond the majority’s reach – this saw tenants accrue and inherit impossible water and rates bills. The state department claims it is currently being owed close to $130 million.

What threatens to derail the process of people acquiring individualized water meters is the rigid precondition that all candidates first clear outstanding accounts of bills accrued on the bulk water meters before submitting their applications.

Meanwhile, last Tuesday Herald’s headlines screamed – Water disconnections loom – with City of Harare promising to soon embark on a massive water disconnection exercise. Flats have been encouraged to defray this by entering into some kind of payment plan with the department, to settle their arrears. The payment plan still includes putting in hefty down payments first before having your arrears staggered. Surely, if people had the thousands demanded by City of Harare, they would have simply paid in the beginning rather than live with this burden hanging over their heads and feeding off their peace of mind.

A lot of households in some of Harare’s most populous suburbs like Mbare, Mabvuku, Tafara, Chizhanje and Kuwadzana were disconnected a long time ago. Is this the best City of Harare can do? It is not as if this will solve the problem. If anything, one would imagine that the 2008-2009 cholera outbreaks left a lasting impression enough to disqualify the option of disconnecting water from the masses. Soon, most of Harare is going to be without running water, and then what? We know they badly need the money, but this cost recovery exercise is as good as futile as it is doomed to fail. People simply do not have that kind of money.

For a country once ravished and traumatized by cholera, I think holding us at ransom with this threat is not the wisest thing to do. City fathers really need to find lasting solutions other than allowing COH to hold the cholera noose above our heads. Essentially that is what they are saying; pay or get ready to die.

I think it is high time the COH cut its losses, calls it quits and moves on. Letting go of all that money would certainly be hard, but that does not dismiss the necessity of doing it. There are times in life when it is more logical to stop doing something that is already failing in order to reduce the amount of time and money being wasted on it.

As a state department, COH has a lot of leeway to exercise that kind of ‘leniency’. I mean, besides the fact that it might be the smartest thing to do, I think it is only fair because these debts were especially a result of circumstances beyond anyone’s control. Everybody knows that the country’s general economic downturn with the subsequent dollarization contributed immensely to these problems, and this is so widespread to the extent that what you can count on one hand, is those who actually do not owe anything to COH.

Much as the COH is insisting on going on like someone who has been grievously wronged, they must remember that we have all had to cut our losses. For instance, imagine what would happen if all former Zim dollar account holders started hectoring the banks about conversion and compensation for all the trillions they lost.

My other submission is, just how legal is the exercise of using estimates (which greatly contributed the huge debts people accrued in the first place). If it is, I think citizens deserve a chance to challenge the validity of charging people what they did not consume. A good way forward is for COH to put good billing systems in place, then start charging reasonably for actual usage. They would be amazed how much people would be motivated and willing to cooperate when given a chance to start on a fresh slate.

Moreover, if COH simply writes off what it is supposedly owed, psychologically this is enabling and good for the ratepayer because their contributions become more meaningful when no longer pitted against an impossible debt that they will never be in a position to offset in this lifetime. Picture this, say someone owes COH an interest- accruing debt of $4000, paying $25 in a month against this is like a drop in the ocean, which does not do much to motivate anyone to pay any more. It is like trying to squeeze water out of a rock, literally. Let’s get real; the majority of citizens either do not have regular sources of income or are civil servants, earning less than $300 per month. With issues of rent, school fees and basic existence, you do the math.

I had told myself I was not going to comment on the Zimbabwe Big Brother candidate – Munyaradzi Chidzonga’s loss conundrum. I mean, enough criticism already. However, for someone who supported the state’s parting with $1.8 million for the Warriors-Samba Boys friendly, I have recently been accused of hypocrisy for not supporting the Munya (as he is affectionately known) money initiative by some close friends. I have defended the former by saying; at least over 40 thousand people were involved, versus just one person. But that is fodder for another post.

When I watched the unprecedented meet with the president on the news yesterday, I was motivated to highlight that the kerfuffle around Munya and his subsequent reception of 300 thousand USD in ‘compensation fees to cushion him against depression’ served at least one good purpose for me; the opportunity to witness our leaders demonstrate their ability to raise big funds in a considerably short space of time.

One word from a flaky professor and another from an obscure land tycoon and just like that, on a whim, thousands were raised in less than a week. If this were to be done on a sustained basis for more meaningful things, imagine what that would do for our country’s development. Imagine what 300 thousand can do for the non-working traffic lights and potholes littering Harare’s streets; hundreds of needless deaths would be avoided. Imagine what a similar initiative would add to the lives of the displaced folk living and scavenging like animals at Borrowdale race course…

Hopefully none of that money was donated from the collective taxpayers’ pocket.

As I watched the news, I vaguely couldn’t help drawing thin parallels between the big rush for the ‘Diamond boy’ and the diesel n’anga circus. Quite an embarrassment to see such big men getting caught up in such silly things. As someone I know would say it, it just somehow feels super-stupid.

When the First Spin Crowd set to work, the Munya fundraising campaign seemed to suddenly precipitate into something of a publicity gimmick masquerading under the guise of wish granting, with Munya in the centre as the oblivious pawn. Words like youth empowerment, sovereignty, and son of the soil interestingly found their way into the President’s speech at the colourful reception at state house. Talk about grabbing slight opportunities.

And who would have thought Gushungo was a fan or even had the time to watch Big Brother. Perhaps we can put this down to the work of an excellent briefing by the First Spin Crowd, who are we kidding? But one thing is for certain, they conveniently neglected to inform the president that the son of the soil had just come back from a house that harboured totemless, nicotine addicted youths among which were women who often kissed each other full on the mouth. The First Homophobe would have rather died than be remotely associated with such.

For the icing on the cake; asked (Big Brother style) what he was going to do with all that cash, the ever grinning young man looked into the camera and said, “I’m going to use the bulk of it to market and promote my movie,” referring to some obscure production in which he featured, that we are yet to know the full details of. Let’s just say it was a relief to know that speech was going to end and that he was courteous enough not to abuse the redundant and clichéd charity card. Now that would have defeated the whole idea, wouldn’t it?

Following the publication of a Satutory Instrument which introduces new requirements for vehicles on Zimbabwe’s road, we published the below and asked our subscribers for feedback.

Road Traffic (Construction, Equipment And Use) Regulations Act. Statutory Instrument (S.I. 154 Of 2010)

Effective 1st December 2010 new minimum requirements for all motor vehicles have been promulgated, as follows: -

Special visual warning device: all motor vehicles (Breakdown triangles)

52. (1) No person shall drive a motor vehicle on a road unless two warning devices complying with the requirements of this section are carried in that vehicle:

Provided that, if the motor vehicle is drawing one or more trailers, two additional warning devices shall be carried in respect of each such trailer.

(The regulation then describes the type of reflective triangles required, their specifications, storage and their positioning on the road in the event of a breakdown.)

Spare wheel, tools and fire extinguisher: all vehicles

53. (1) No person shall drive a motor vehicle, other than a motor cycle, on any road unless the vehicle is equipped with -

(a) A serviceable spare wheel; and
(b) An efficient jack; and
(c) A wheel-brace or wheel-spanner capable of undoing the vehicle’s wheel-nuts; and
(d) In the case of a light motor vehicle, a serviceable fire extinguisher of a size commercially known as zero comma seven five kilograms

(The rest of Section 53 describes similar requirements for heavy vehicles and the Standards Association requirements of the fire extinguishers.)

Kubatana’s pause for thought:

a) Road safety in Zimbabwe needs a broader solution. For example, street lighting, potholes, signage, and traffic lights need to be fixed. The police force needs to be out on the roads monitoring and fining poor driving. Unroadworthy vehicles need to be made safer. Perhaps revenue from diamond sales and tollgates could actually benefit and enhance the lives of Zimbabwean citizens through improving the general safety of the roads.

b) The Government make up a large number of vehicles on Zimbabwean roads in the form of public service vehicles like ambulances, prison vehicles, police cars, municipal vehicles, and army trucks. Will these vehicles adhere to the regulations that the general public is required to? Silly question right?

c) How many vehicles are on the road in Zimbabwe? Can the manufacturing industry supply the items that every car is required to have by 1 December 2010? Clearly not – so what do people do when the police fine them for not having these items?

d) Wording like “efficient” and “serviceable” are subjective. At a police roadblock how will the “efficiency” of a jack be determined?

e) The Zimbabwean authorities are surely aware that the majority of citizens in Zimbabwe are either unemployed or underpaid and whilst vehicles need to be roadworthy and our roads need to become safer, many members of the public do not have the spare cash to purchase items like fire extinguishers.

f) One has to wonder whether this is just another way for the Government to acquire funds from the public – is it really their business if you have a spare wheel in your car?

Here is some of the feedback we received. What do you think? Leave your comment on this issue below.

Hey guys, this is the statutory instrument which is going to change things starting March 2010, I have a worry that if Zimbabweans will no longer in a position to import these cheap vehicles and resort to commuting, is the government going to provide the means. I know public transport provided by our Government has seen ages of failing through corruption and mismanagement. Isn’t it regressive, that when Citizens can now afford cheap means to travel around the government tend to restrict the progress. Zimbabwe has 2 companies which assemble vehicles and the vehicles are so expensive, where on earth can a Zimbabwean get USD$18 000.00 to buy a Mazda BT50,and even those vehicles which are less than 5 years are so expensive ,they cost close to new ones. Very few people in Zimbabwe in Zimbabwe could afford vehicles apart from those with good salaries and possibly with profitable organizations.

We might look at the other angle, credit facilities in Zimbabwe are not yet available to an extent that it is affordable. If there is a credit facility, it is normally granted to those with either title deeds or some collateral of some sort. I thought Government could wait until the economic environment is stable and Citizens can afford. It’s now almost 2 years we started paying toll fees and the speed of Tollgates construction and road construction is yet to be significant.  How can a Government be mini to its citizens like this and yet they allow the imports of Chinese goods which do not last, ranging from clothing, plastic shoes and after market machinery and equipment.  Today if you are to travel to some other rural places, there might be only 2 buses which go there, and only 2 times a week.  I can see Zimbabweans going back to walking long distances to a bus stop.  I think government did not a good research on this, I thought it was getting a lot of money from duty they have been charging.

- ZM

——

Good analysis in Kubatana’s pause for thought.

My first reaction was: providing an opportunity for extra pocket money for many police officers – all officers will want to go for the roadblock/ road patrol duty; and…

Wording like “efficient” and “serviceable” are subjective. At a police roadblock how will the “efficiency” of a jack be determined? … will depend on officer’s pocket requirements…

- MT

——

The Statuatory Instrument 154 which refines traffic regulations is a blessing in disguise for the police force. Imagine, the breakdown triangles (you need 2 per vehicle) need to have serial numbers, name of the manufacturer, year of manufacture and must conform to SAZ standards. Fortunately, it does not need an expiry date!

This is happy days indeed for the cash strapped police at road blocks.

May I propose some more regulations:

You need to produce a doctor’s prescription in case you carry pills and other types of Mushonga.

Drivers with spectacles or eye lenses are allowed, but you need to carry a prescription from your optometrist who has to be registered and paid up member of the Association of Optometrists of Zimbabwe.

Furthermore, do not wear shoes of the wrong size, the correct size can be obtained from the shoe officer at your local SAZ office.

It is forbidden to carry used condoms, and unused condoms must have a stamped serial number, a date of expiry, a letter of consent from your wife to use it and the name and ID of the intended recipient.

Ashtrays have to be empty all the time.

You need to carry at least 50 ml of washing liquid of which the quality must adhere to CAZ norms. This is to clean your windows.

All vehicles need to carry waste bags, one for each passenger.

In case a vehicle carries a baby under 9 months, the driver has to wear earplugs, the size of which must be within the norms as specified by the Health Council of Zimbabwe.

Music may be played during driving, but pirated recordings are not allowed, check with the Arts Council of Zimbabwe.

Traffic safety concerns us all, it is therefore obligatory to report every pothole, every non-working robot, and every non-working streetlight to the nearest police station, failure to do so will result in your vehicle being impounded and a maximum jail sentence for the driver of one weekend. In case of a custodian sentence your relatives may retrieve the working jack and a maximum of two breakdown triangles from the vehicle.

- GJ

——

Thanks for the news and the comments. I would like to find out who really comes up with these (sometimes crazy) regulations. Second hand vehicle ban, curfew on beer sales after seven and now the vehicle requirements. Maybe you can help me understand it as it`s becoming like cramming for an exam

- KM

——

I support this regulation because it is one way for providing safety to people. I drive every week to Gweru from Harare  and oftenly find breakdown cars on the road without any   warning signal  and at times, tree branches, stones or empty containers are placed on the road. This is risking other people’ lives. Furthermore, I watched a guy trying to put off fire on his car by pouring sand on it. This is unsafe and the guy lost the car. He could have minimised the damage to his car if he had a fire-extiquisher. Truely travelling without a spare wheel compromise the safety of individuals, one ends up sleeping on the road or can be attacked by thieves and robbers.

However, we are aware that gvt vehicles will not adhere to these regulations and we will need to put pressure on the govt to comply. We only live once

- ZM

——

Yes, we do appreciate the efforts by the government to solve some of the problems like safety standards on motor vehicles, however, should not be done at the expense of the general public  who are already suffering

- WM

——

It is our expectations that time to time government comes up with measures to ensure road accidents are reduced drastically. Everyone agrees with that but:

The whole approach is not being holistic when it comes to the real problems on the ground.

1. Right now our vehicle tyres are being worn out or damaged by unrepaired trenches that are being made acroos many roads in Harare. The people or who ever the company digs those trenches and put their cables and only cover the trench will soil. Right now a trench at the intersection of Charter and Chinhoyi has been like that for more than three weeks.There is another one dug just last week along the same charter road as you drive towards the fly over.Many like trenches like that are common feature in Harare’s roads and no one seems to care.Who will compensate for all damages to our vehicles or even accidents that may occur due to such trenches? The vehicles are becoming unroadworthy because of these bad roads.

2. Pot holes are all over.If you drive along Seke road from Coca Cola then you wonder if we have authorities responsible for ensuring that tsuch roads are repaired to avoid accidents and damages to vehicles.Just adjascent to Seke Road is airport road.You would think you are in a different country when you drive along airport road.No potholes.well surfaced and I have seen that the road is even being widened.Ok

3. A lot of people are allegedly obtaining drivers licences over the counter like bread .Very young people are driving commuter omnibuses without drivers licences everyday passing through road blocks.Commuter omnibus drivers are just a menace in our roads as they are reckless,just drive in any lane,stop at any point,does not even care others are using the roads and putting the lives of many into serious risk.Wht has so far been done to the problem-nothing

4. Drive along our major highways and you will discover tall grass growing and uncut for years which makes clear vission impossible.

I think we are not going to solve our probles.Just recently there were regulations that drivers are tested by CMED before real road test and that has since been abandoned.Why did the initiative fail to reduce road carnage.What we are proposing is no different to measures once implemented with CMED testing leanerr drivers.

I think we are not serious at all.

- GG

——

Road safety in Zimbabwe needs a broader solution. For example, street lighting, potholes, signage, and traffic lights need to be fixed. The police force needs to be out on the roads monitoring and fining poor driving. Unroadworthy vehicles need to be made safer. Perhaps revenue from diamond sales and tollgates could actually benefit and enhance the lives of Zimbabwean citizens through improving the general safety of the roads. Yes while this is true but at least we should start somewhere and I think this is a noble idea by the government. Let us, the motorists do our part and then vigorously push the government to meet its side of the bargain as well. This is the beginning and I believe, we in Zimbabwe have amassed a lot of hatred for the government to such an extent that we know longer believe that there is something we can do for ourselves. There is a limit to what the governemnt can do for its people, but there is no limit to what the people can do for themselves.

b) The Government make up a large number of vehicles on Zimbabwean roads in the form of public service vehicles like ambulances, prison vehicles, police cars, municipal vehicles, and army trucks. Will these vehicles adhere to the regulations that the general public is required to? Silly question right? – Let us the common people comply, and it is us the common people who use those government vehicles, so once your personal car is complying, move on and tell your employer that I am not going to work with this car because it is not complying with traffic regulations!Thats where we can start to force them to adhere to the rules, this we can equate to democratic resistance!It pays.Civil society need to rise up and be the police of whatever the government promulgates

c) How many vehicles are on the road in Zimbabwe? Can the manufacturing industry supply the items that every car is required to have by 1 December 2010? Clearly not – so what do people do when the police fine them for not having these items? – Here I tend to agree with you, that the timing is a bit too close for motorists to put their house in order. December 1 is just around the corner, even if every motorist was going to send in their cars for everything, there is no industrial capacity for that in Zimbabwe at the moment.  But I am again at pains to understand why one can move with a car that does not have a Spare wheel, a jack or a red triangle?I still can not understand this. These are requirements on any car and anyone buying a car in Zimbabwe should refuse that car if its coming without a jack, a spare wheel or a red triangle. These are the basis of what is called a car. These things are not for the police but for your own safety, its just like a stupid person who rushes to fasten a seatbelt on seeing a police road block. I for one does not drive a car with a passenger not putting his/her seatbelt. And its very easy once you make it a habit, for yourself, for the whole family. If my little 3 year old daughter can immediately fasten a seatbelt on getting into the car, why can’t grown ups do that. Its these little things that led to the collapse of the country.People should learn from the past, never to buy fuel from a chigubhu, never to change money on the black market and more importantly NEVER pay a bribe.Let him write the ticket and the money goes to the government.Its better that way!

d) Wording like “efficient” and “serviceable” are subjective. At a police roadblock how will the “efficiency” of a jack be determined? – This is the main problem of the regulation. And this reflects the main undoing of the Zimbabwean populace.From the GPA’s “in consultation with the Prime Minister” on major appointments to the the Electoral Act’s “reasonably satisfied”. We should be more to the point and leave no room for the officer’s discretion.

e) The Zimbabwean authorities are surely aware that the majority of citizens in Zimbabwe are either unemployed or underpaid and whilst vehicles need to be roadworthy and our roads need to become safer, many members of the public do not have the spare cash to purchase items like fire extinguishers. – This is not an excuse at ALL! So does this legitimise stealing, robbing etc because of poverty?Poverty has never been an excuse for legitimising illegitimate things.So we allow people to perish in the roads because someone does not have spare cash to purchase items like fire extinguishers?If that was the case, do you think poor countries like Mozambique could continue running and maintaining their Fire fighting engines, fire-brigades and firemen because they don’t have spare cash. A law should be a law, irregardless of one’s financial position. If one can not afford to meet the requirements of owning a car please sell it and let those who can meet them purchase the car.Infact Zimbabwe is not as strict when it comes to cars-all cars including private vehicles should go for yearly certifying for roadworthiness and any that does not meet the minimum should be denied a certificate of roadworthiness. Only after the owner has rectified all the problems and have it tested again only then can they be issued with a certificate of roadworthiness. Anyone who drives a car without a certificate of roadworthiness should either be jailed or the car forfeited to the state.

f) One has to wonder whether this is just another way for the Government to acquire funds from the public – is it really their business if you have a spare wheel in your car? – Why would anyone drive a car without a spare wheel?To whose disadvantage is it? And to whose inconvinience is it? Those are the cars that block roads causing accidents because someone has gone to start looking for some money to buy another tyre. People should budget for their cars and not just want to drive without the necessary parts for their cars at the same time endangering other motorists. My ONLY challenge with this law is only selective application of the law, otherwise the law itself is okay. Just like the ban on 5 year old Japanese vehicles, and the ban on LHD vehicles. I support these laws and they are being promulgated to make our country a better place to live. Asina mari ngaafambe nemaKombi vane mari votenga mota svinu!Infact the government should say a brand new car does not pay duty, marata ekuJapan ayo voaisa kana pa500% duty chaiko!

- JK

Last Saturday as a friend and I were driving along Borrowdale Road we witnessed a full commuter speeding at an estimated 120km/hr as compared to the 70km/hr speed limit. To make matters worse the driver was bullying other cars out of his way!

Commuter transport operators have become a law unto themselves. In a report published in The Herald last week, Inspector Chigome from the Zimbabwe Republic Police named commuter transport operators as the main culprits in road traffic accidents that have killed 1 500 people and injured more than 12 000.

The majority of the public have no choice but to take their lives into their hands and board a combi because what other transport options are there?

The police are useless to the public. The recent police blitz on combis ended in commuters having to walk several kilometres to and from work. This is not the first time the operators have taken out their frustrations on the public. In more than one incident, I along with other passengers, have been forced off a combi after complaining about many things, including fares that double or treble after leaving the commuter rank, change not being returned, reckless driving, or overloading.

Police corruption doesn’t improve matters either. I have witnessed for myself a commuter driver bribing the police to get a car that was obviously overloaded and unroadworthy past a roadblock.

This is no way to live. I have had enough. On Saturday I took this picture of the combis licence plate – ABJ 7892. For your own safety, if you see this combi don’t get on it. If you are driving and you see it on the roads, stay very far away from it.