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
