The lift or elevator at the Fidelity Life Towers near the Central Police Station in Mutare has not been working for the past donkey years and there is need to fix it quickly. – Moses

Don’t know about you but in Greendale over Easter, there was just a trickle of municipal water. And now at our office block, which services over 30 offices (that’s a lot of poo to deal with on a daily basis), there’s no water. Give us some water please Mr President, I bet you’ve got some to spare.

From Trudy Stevenson, Zimbabwe’s Ambassador to Senegal:

I am so privileged to share with the Senegalese their joy in managing their transition to a new government led by new president Macky Sall.  Despite all the tension and the violent demonstrations and loss of life since 23 June 2011, in the end the transition has been achieved through the ballot box in complete peace, with the outgoing president Wade telephoning the winner Macky Sall to congratulate him on his victory even before the last results are out. This is indeed democracy, and African democracy – so we CAN do it!!  Well done Senegal!

My SMS to Paul – the Zimbabwe Electricity Supply Authority (ZESA) technician who is our contact for Monavale repairs and who was working yesterday on the smoking electricity poles with his team:
‘Hello Paul.  I am afraid the Elec. pole on Onslow Lane (path down to Monavale Vlei) was smoking again just now.  elec is still on. Thank you.’

His to me:
‘Relax madam, we knw why its still behaving that violently, we had no permanent spares ystrday so u’re on a temp supply back feed until we get thoz spares, u’re safe jst ignore it will clear.’

Me:
‘Thank you so much Paul. we are relaxed. Happy Easter.’

PS … For any of you who wonder what Monavale Vlei is about  – look at www.monavalevlei.com

An Easter Saturday 42k (marathon) walk around Harare. On Kent Road, approaching home with 2ks to go.

From over speeding and exceeding their maximum speed limits to running away from police in a ‘movie style’ way to getting really nasty and urinating on pedestrians. These are kombi drivers in Harare. My worst encounter is when I board a kombi and the driver begins to move his vehicle before I can even take a seat and the the free seats are available only at the back.

Such inconsiderate acts by kombi drivers can be attributed to immaturity. Imagine a lady or man old enough to be their own parent being made to fiddle her way to a seat just because the driver is rushing to beat the kombi behind him to get passengers? That is lack of respect at its highest degree. The Traffic Safety Council of Zimbabwe (TSCZ) through its information campaign in the press is sharing the Road Traffic Act regulations with road users.  In a statement, ‘How legal are Public Service Vehicle drivers?’ published in the Herald of Monday 26 March, 2012 by TSCZ interprets regulations in the Statutory Instrument 168 of 2006 which a driver should adhere to before driving a public service vehicle.

A Public Service Vehicle driver:
- must have proof of five (5) years continuous experience before driving a public service vehicle thus those who obtained their driver’s licences in March 2007 and before (at the time of writing this article)
-  must undergo a re-testing exercise after each period of 5 years
- must be a holder of a Defensive Driving Certificate issued only by the Traffic Safety Council of Zimbabwe which is valid for a period of four (4) years
- must be examined by a Government Medical Officer and be issued wit a medical certificate which is valid for a period of one (1) year -    must display at all time, while driving a PSV: a valid defensive driving certificate and a valid medical certificate

Drivers are to charged accordingly under the various sections depending on the crime committed. Drivers who fail to produce any of the above requirements will either be fined or face imprisonment for six months or both. Those who are convicted of negligence driving or driving without due care in the first offence shall be prohibited from driving for six months and in the second offence with a period of 5 years have their licence cancelled. Operators who employ under-qualified drivers are also liable to prosecution under the Road Motor Transportation Act.

The TSCZ should now get this message to the kombi drivers. They should hold awareness campaigns, for example road shows at kombi ranks like Copacabana or Fourth Street rank to get the message out there.

We have to put an end to accidents on our roads caused be negligent driving. If you would like to get more clarity on any issue related to road safety contact the Traffic Safety Council of Zimbabwe (TSCZ) on marketing [at] trafficsafety [dot] co [dot] zw or 04-751203/8.