Pirate taxis warned of clampdown

The Herald, May 6, 1981

THE Government is to clamp down on pirate taxis and the illegal hawking of opaque beer in the cities and towns, says the Minister of Local Government and Housing, Mr Eddison Zvobgo.

Operators of shebeens — illegal liquor outlets — are being urged to form co-operatives, which will be registered and licensed or run the risk of arrest.

Stressing that the Government would not have people “loaded into cars like cabbages”, Mr Zvobgo said his Ministry, in conjunction with the Ministry of Roads and Road Traffic, was redefining rules governing pirate taxis.

“We have met the pirate taxis representatives and have made it clear that all pirate taxis will require registration and will then become auxiliary taxis,” he said in an interview yesterday.

“Police are going to clamp down on them. We have not yet fixed a date for the actual implementation, but pirate taxis operators must know this is coming.”

Registration, he said, would mean pirate taxis would have to be subject to inspection and licensed with permits stating the capacity required on the vehicles. They would also have to pass periodic tests of roadworthiness from the Vehicle Inspection Department.

Giving them two weeks in which to stop their business, Mr Zvobgo said illegal hawking of “Chibuku” deprived local authorities of revenue which should be used for housing and other essential services.

“Let the hawkers take note that this business will not be tolerated,” he said.

“We are aware there are places called speed bars selling Chibuku in the open. The Government has said they must go. We are warning everybody in the business that they have two weeks in which to stop this. The Government has declared that they are illegal and the police are on the look-out for shebeen operators,” Mr Zvobgo said.

The Minister said representations had been made to him by shebeen “kings and queens” that they were running these institutions not as a matter of choice, but for the survival of their families.

“Those people should now approach their local authorities and say that as a group, they would like to operate a liquor outlet. A number of them could pool their resources, ask the municipality for a building which they would redesign and furnish so that it is neat and clean.

It would have to be run within the approved hours and that way, they can make a living.

“Everybody would then know that this is a late-night liquor outlet. People will be safe because the police will carry out regular patrols,” Mr Zvobgo said.

Noting that the Prime Minister, Mr Mugabe, disliked “people selling beer under the beds in their rooms”, the Minister said, “There are various inequities.

Apart from being nefarious, there has been some corruption associated with them.”

LESSONS FOR TODAY

◆ It is important to abide by the law, especially when doing business. Doing the right thing will save you money, time and the inconvenience of being arrested and having to pay fines or being jailed. ◆ Government and private players need to continue co-operating in terms of coming up with a viable transport system that will effectively deal with the pirate taxi menace. The current efforts by the Government to increase Zupco’s capacity should continue to be sustained because once it has enough buses, the need for pirate taxis will fall away.

◆ The illegal selling of beer is bad and the police need to step up their crackdown on such activities while periodically raiding some of the places. Such operations should be done on a regular basis because getting rid of such places will result in the country dealing with vices such as drug peddling and prostitution.

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