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Obey Sibanda
A CAT and mouse kind of relationship has always existed between the police and kombi crews in cities and towns across the country.

Urban areas now resemble war zones as the fights sometimes turn nasty.

Police officers and kombi crews often fight over the latter’s alleged refusal to use the various legal kombi holding bays located at the periphery of the central business district.

Sadly, the fights have resulted in injuries and in some instances, the loss of lives.

From time to time police have embarked on operations to restore order in cities around the country.

But the move to decongest cities has been met with a lot of resistance from unruly kombi crews who sometimes injure passengers during attempts to flee from the police.

In Bulawayo, the operation kicked off by getting rid of kombis that operate at the infamous illegal pickup point along 6th Avenue, between Lobengula and Herbert Chitepo Streets.

Bulawayo police spokesperson Inspector Precious Simango said kombi crews were ignoring the one way traffic regulation at the spot, thereby endangering the lives of other road users.

“Kombi crews don’t seem to realise that 6th Avenue is a one way traffic road. It’s a dangerous pick-up point. Imagine if there was a heavy truck travelling from the city centre and the driver failed to apply brakes, what do you think would happen? We’ve noted with great concern that the picking of passengers by passenger service vehicles was rampant in the CBD. These operators have a tendency of blocking the smooth flow of traffic,” said Inspector Simango.

She said the aim of the police was to prevent the loss of lives.

“Illegal pickup points are prone to accidents and therefore not safe for commuters. If we’re not careful, a lot of lives will be lost unnecessarily. We’ll continue enforcing the law until sanity prevails. We urge members of the public to desist from boarding transport at undesignated places and board kombis at designated pickup points which were enacted by the Bulawayo City Council as this will help restore sanity to the city.”

But kombi crews continue to be defiant. Touts have devised new strategies of evading police officers.

They stand at strategic points and whistle or use their mobile phones to warn drivers and encourage them to dodge police officers.

Some kombi crews brazenly told the Chronicle that the operation was just but “morning dew” as it would soon disappear.

“Order and normalcy can only be restored if and when the powers that be do something about the root cause of the menace that has become the in thing in the nation. This is a cancerous disease which can never be solved without treating the causes. This purported blitz on kombis is much ado about nothing,” said Siqhubumthetho Ndlovu, a kombi owner.

He added: “It’s unthinkable at this juncture for anyone to expect sanity to take centre stage as the majority of the kombis plying the city routes are owned by the police themselves. They can’t take number plates and arrest the culprits otherwise they’ll end up impounding one of theirs. This has crippled the police force and they can’t execute their duties competently.”

Ndlovu said there was a need to mend the relationship between kombi crews and the police for the sake of ensuring passengers remain safe and continue to have a reliable transport system.

“When Police Commissioner General Augustine Chihuri announced that no member of the police force must own kombis, it was a welcome move. But this failed to withstand the test of time. It’s high time we found ways of building a workable relationship between police officers and kombi crews because each time they clash, innocent members of the public are the casualties,” he said.

A significant number of passengers feel police are doing a shoddy job at restoring order in cities by paying a lip service to the cause and not arresting the perpetrators.

Mpiyezwe Mguni, a member of the Zimbabwe Passengers Association said the police must engage in dialogue with kombi operators in order to come up with solutions to ensure the safety of commuters instead of playing the blame game.

“Traffic police and kombi crew-based violence continues to escalate in Zimbabwe. Instead of these two institutions taking responsibility for their actions and building partnerships, each plays the blame game. Police blame the kombi crews for undermining their authority and the kombi operators blame the police for persistently demanding bribes from them,” said Mguni.

“We accept that often, kombi crews contribute immensely to the problems, but the police must be open to forming lasting partnerships with kombi operators to reduce these bloody battles and unwarranted loss of lives. We’re not talking about meaningless handholding, but active, meaningful partnerships. This is about each institution playing its role for the betterment of the city and the safety of the commuters. The police mustn’t waste their time and energy resorting to these trivial wars which put a dent on the reputation of the police force as a whole.”

There is a growing perception that the police are corrupt, routinely demand and take bribes and that generally, instead of enforcing the law, the officers are good at breaking it.

Kombi crews too have lost respect for the police and roadblocks because they know that they can pay for their crimes.

In some cases, some kombi drivers and touts have gone to the extent of assaulting police officers.

Bulawayo High Court Judge, Justice Martin Makonese recently said the courts were disturbed by the skirmishes between kombi crews and police officers.

“The courts are concerned by incidents involving kombi drivers who impede police officers carrying out their duties by assaulting them,” said Justice Makonese.

However, a tout only identified as Bhawu said there was an increase in police brutality against kombi crews.

“Firstly, police kill a kombi crew member without cause like what happened recently in Murewa where it is reported that the traffic officers manning a roadblock demanded a $10 bribe from the driver but he had $5. This led to the attack on the driver and he subsequently died from injuries sustained during the fight. The crews organised a peaceful mass protest but the mainstream media ignored the protest,” said Bhawu.

He said when a police officer dies at the hands of kombi crews, the media cover the incident.

“Suddenly the story becomes newsworthy. The media should be fair and create a platform for dialogue so that people know what’s happening on the ground. The media has a key role to play in exposing the rot in the police force, but it tends to be sympathetic to the allegations levelled against the police,” said Bhawu.

The worst affected group of people in this matrix, the commuters, said something must be done to maintain peace between the two rivals.

“When the justice system fails, it’s easy to blame the government for not being able to enact laws and policies which are deterrent and will send a clear message to would be offenders,” said Sibongile Madawu of Pumula South.

She said commuters must board kombis at designated pickup points and kombi crews must also desist from using undesignated bays.

The concerned resident said police officers must stop smashing windscreens of kombis as it is “barbaric” adding that they should instead take down number plates which they would then use to track the law breakers.

Some people are of the radical view that kombi owners are the root cause of the battles and have contributed to the escalating number of accidents country wide.

Kombi owners, they said, needed to be punished for allowing defective vehicles on the road and setting unrealistic daily targets for drivers.