Calvin Manika
WALKING has never been easy especially on long distances. Since the days of riding on horsebacks and the advent of automobiles, human beings have been technologically improving their by reducing physical constrains on their bodies. With many responsibilities in daily lives people need convenience, strength and rest.
However, having noted that Hwange residents say they have resorted to walking to and from work as private vehicles are now charging exorbitant fees in the absence of sufficient and convenient Zupco buses.
Mining companies in Hwange and other big enterprises have been always taking their workers to and from work, a trend which has continued during the Covid 19 induced lockdown.
However, the majority of people have always relied on public transport. Peter Banda, a local resident said transport has become a new challenge in the mining town. “Before lockdown we had our fair share of challenges but we were trying to run around to attend to some of the things, but now with transport challenges we have been really incapacitated and a great deal of inconvenience has affected us,”said Banda.
Hwange has only three Zupco buses which service all its vast residential areas. Three commuter omnibuses which initially joined the Zupco franchise are currently not operational to the disadvantage of the masses. Another resident Faith Mpala who resides in Empumalanga working in Hwange CBD echoed the same sentiment: “We have few buses to service us and kombis are not willing to register under Zupco franchise, this has caused us to wake up early and start walking to work so that we can be punctual.”
Zupco Bus services is a road transport company incorporated and registered in Zimbabwe with the mandate to provide rural, urban and regional passenger travel services. After the attainment of independence, the government of Zimbabwe pursued a policy targeted at redressing the socio-economic imbalances that had characterised the Zimbabwean economy prior to independence. Urban transport was regarded as one such key economic sector. Despite the ups and downs the company faced along the way in 2019 the government reintroduced Zupco bus service to urban routes as a cushioning measure to the members of the public who had been treated crudely and over charged by commuter omnibus crews ‘kombis’.
The demand for urban transport in many towns is increasing with urbanisation. Worldwide, urbanization is growing in both the developed and developing countries. According to UNFPA in 2008, for the first time in history, more than half of the world’s population were living in towns and cities and the proportion of the world’s urban population is expected to increase to 5 billion people by 2050. With the shortage of cheap, affordable and convenient transport.
The European Union Council of Ministers of Transport define sustainable transport as allowing “the basic access and development needs of individuals, companies and society to be met safely and in a manner consistent with human and ecosystem health, and promotes equity within and between successive generations, affordable, limit emissions while minimising the impact on the use of land and the generation of noise”. Efforts to get a comment from Zupco Southern Division in Bulawayo for the entity’s plans on Hwange crisis were fruitless.
Contacted for comment, the president of Passenger Association of Zimbabwe (PAZ) Tafadzwa George Goriati said: “We have no guarantee on the continuity of Zupco as it is wholly subsided by the government. The government must not choose the type of transport for us, passengers must choose between a kombi and Zupco bus at their own choice. Government must stand by all companies and support all operators in capacitating them. Zupco is failing to service its routes with people spending long hours in unending winding queues in ranks. There are no teams to properly check the adherence to Covid 19 regulations in ranks. Passengers are overcrowded which is a high risk, no social distance in the bus and overloading during night trips. We support our government and black empowerment initiative but we think Zupco is having a monopoly and failing to fulfil its mandate.”
Urban commuters have formulated a number of strategies to cope with high transport costs as well as an inadequate and unreliable public transport system. The most significant surviving strategy in urban areas of Zimbabwe particularly Hwange is that people are walking for long distances from residential area`s to places of work. One resident remarked that Hwange is “fast becoming a town of walkers”. Another coping strategy is that some people are cycling to work.
Goriati went on to say: “Due to shortage of Zupco buses our passengers are now walking on foot and other hitch-hiking on private vehicles at undesignated picking zones which is also risky.
“This is all because of the failure of Zupco. As a passengers association we have taken the matter to court. We filed an urgent court application to the High Court and the judgment was reserved. Now we have taken it to the Supreme Court. We want convenience and decent transport to be provided to our passengers.”
An efficient urban public transport system is considered to be a necessary ingredient to economic growth. Excessively long waiting times as well as long walking distances characterising the current urban public transport situation have regressive effects to the economy. In an interview on the challenges caused by COVID-19 to the transport industry National Traffic Drivers Association Chairperson Josephine Matanhire said: “Zupco is in charge now to help contain the spread of COVID-19 in the transport system. There is a possibility that the commuter omnibus operators will be back if the novel corona virus is over. It was a short term measure but due to the rise in cases it has been prolonged. The kombi operators have a problem that they don’t care about their drivers, their conduct to passengers and operation of work. Operators only care of money ‘targets’. Drivers should take their work as a profession and join associations. During this lockdown as NTDA we are cushioning drivers’ registered under our banner by providing them with some basic needs.”
