PASSENGERS who are picked up or dropped off at undesignated points in and around Harare’s central business district (CBD), as well as in other towns and cities, will now be liable to US$30 fines, while the offending vehicles will be clamped and towed away.
Harare City Council has started recruiting more municipal
police officers to enforce this regulation, which has been in place since 2016.
The Government recently directed local authorities to work
with law-enforcement agents to enforce by-laws in towns and cities.
Local Government and Public Works’ communications and
advocacy director Mr Gabriel Masvora said the regulations apply to private
vehicles.
“There are by-laws that prohibit the picking up and
dropping off of passengers at undesignated points.
“So, the passengers will be arrested by the police, while
council will have the right to clamp the vehicle and tow it away,” he said.
“This is also applying to private motorists who drop off
passengers at undesignated places.
“Police will determine the fines that the passengers will
have to pay.”
According to Statutory Instrument 41 of 2016 of the Road
Traffic (Traffic Signs and Signals) Regulations, local authorities should
ensure that signs are erected to prohibit pedestrians from being picked up and
dropped off at undesignated points.
“This prohibition on hitch-hiking is effective for a
distance of 500 metres beyond such a sign,” the SI reads in part.
Harare City Council spokesperson Mr Innocent Ruwende said
the local authority is recruiting more manpower to help enforce traffic by-laws
in the capital.
“We have expanded our recruitment for the exercise and we
have teamed up with City Parking to enforce traffic by-laws in the city. All
this is meant to ensure sanity is restored in the city,” he said.
Zimbabwe Republic Police national spokesperson, Assistant
Commissioner Paul Nyathi, said the standard scale of fines gazetted recently in
Statutory Instrument 14A of 2023 of the Criminal Law (Codification and Reform)
will be enforced on hitch-hikers.
“Levels one to three will be used to charge these crimes
and the schedule of fines released by the Government recently will be
enforced,” he said.
The fines in the schedule are expressed in United States
dollars but payable in the equivalent Zimbabwe dollars at the prevailing
interbank rate.
For crimes classified under Level 1, the fine will be US$5,
level 2 is pegged at US$10, Level 3 is US$30, Level 4 offenders will pay
US$100, while Level 5 offenders will fork out US$200.
The highest fine is Level 14, which is pegged at US$5 000.
Over the past few weeks, many motorists in Harare have been
caught on the wrong side of the law, as Harare City Council, through City
Parking, has been carrying out a blitz to clamp and tow away vehicles that
flout traffic by-laws.
Some of the offences that warrant clamping and fining are
failure to display a valid parking ticket, continued parking on an expired
ticket, parking over lines of parking bays, obstruction of parking or traffic,
washing a motor vehicle in a parking place and failure to display a vehicle
licence. Sunday Mail
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