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a cigarette.
Max did not appear to notice the kid, but strained his young-old face to keep his eyes open. They were heavy with sleep.
He could not remember the last time he had slept soundly.
Now, he had just slipped into a routine of going home briefly in the morning, leaving a friend taking care of business on his behalf.
He would take a hurried breakfast, then a swift shower before rushing back. He misses his family. They too miss him.
Despite spending the last three months working throughout the night, on a day like this, Max had never gotten used to this “unnatural” way of life.
It all started last December when he was employed as a taxi driver in Karoi.
His employer made it clear that he wanted US$300 weekly from him for the next 15 months.
After 15 months of uninterrupted payments, this would amount to US$18 000, Max would have the car.
It would be his. He would have bought it off – that was the deal.
His employer imported this Toyota Corolla at a time when prices were on the low side and had only parted with US$5 900.
As part of the deal, Max was supposed to buy his own fuel, maintain the car, get his salary from the week’s earnings, take care of his family’s socio-economic concerns and do a lot more other things.
All the employer wanted was his money and any default would mean the deal was over.
The story is told of how one driver missed a month’s payments after being in the deal for 12 months and the employer hurriedly cancelled the deal.
“Your boy broke my toy yesterday. He said I should see you for compensation,” the lad, who all along had been walking besides him, finally said.
His words jolted Max. He rubbed his eyes and blatantly told the kid to “please leave me alone. I have a lot on my mind.”
The kid hesitated for a moment then turned and sprinted away.
Max had no time to waste listening to the kid’s idle talk. He had to raise US$1 200 for the month.
His wife did not hear him enter. She only realised he was back when he mumbled “ndeipi?” (How is it) to which she casually replied that she was doing fine.
He proceeded straight into the bedroom and came out with his towel, then straight to the bathroom. He did not take any time there.
In the next 10 minutes he was munching his breakfast and was out even before his last kid who had gone to buy milk had returned.
Max is not the only one in this situation.
Scores of cabmen are working under the same arrangement,using the same ranks and waiting for the same passengers that Max is targeting.
Such deals are now common countrywide and are entered into by the two parties without any cohesion.
And for a small town like Karoi, the bulk of whose residential areas are within walking distance from the central business district, it becomes very difficult for someone to raise meaningful revenue from the taxi business.
“Mudhara zvakapressa. Ndiri kufanirwa kubata target yeUS$21 000 ne18 months. Kana zvadaro mota ino inenge yave yangu,” (Things are hard my brother. I am supposed to meet a target of US$21 000 in 18 months. After that the car will be mine),” one taxi driver said.
He said they had been made to swear never to talk to the Press or the police when they were recruited, as that would attract negative attention.
“Competition for passengers is now very stiff. We are sleeping at work. You just take a nap in your car and when a customer comes by, you wake up and go.
“But that is only if there is no one awake to call out to the customer ahead of you,” he said.
He added that there was no time to rest. It was a matter of spending 24 hours behind the wheel.
“We have now resorted to engaging our own drivers whom we pay 25 percent of their takings. These drivers take over when we feel like retiring to bed so that they continue searching the streets for customers.
“Here we normally have travellers en route to Zambia or vice versa, who normally arrive at any time of the day or night so it is those people, who sometimes carry the day for us,” he added.
The driver said they made sure every nightspot would be monitored for desperate revellers seeking transport home and usually found parting with money easy under the influence of alcohol.
He is using a small Toyota Vitz for his ambitious project.
The value of the car is just around US$6 500 yet he has to raise US$21 600 for the owner to let him have it.
This writer felt the deal was exploitative.
And what with the wear and tear the car takes from being on the road for 18 months on a 24-hour basis.
To this, Max responded: “There is not much to do as I need the car to earn a living later so I have to handle it carefully knowing it will be mine one day.
“Of course the value is completely distorted and outrageous but I do not have the money to buy my own car and start my own business as well.”
To the drivers the deal is part of the inevitable but it puts their lives and those of the passengers they carry at risk.
Drivers naturally need to be at their best when they get onto the roads but with the countless hours of missed sleep the chances of them losing concentration are high.
Some of them, however, argue that they are engaging their own relievers but the deal does not only exploit them but kills their social life as well. In other words, it enslaves them.
Of course the Karoi drivers are not the only ones in such a situation – in Harare and other towns too the arrangement has spread like a veldfire.
It started with drivers plying long distance routes with Toyota Ipsums and Gaias and paying off the owners later. The amounts the owners were asking for were more reasonable compared to what is happening to the taxi drivers now.
The drivers had the chance to rest; for instance, those plying the Harare-Bulawayo route would make one or two trips a day before parking for the next day.
Yes, the deal has been there for long distance drivers as well, but the conditions were more relaxed and humane. And some of them now have their own fleets of cars.
The current situation leaves no room for anyone to consider what the deal has for the driver – the message is clear from the start – “Raise money for me to buy three or more cars and you get the scrap.”
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