“Go Faster to Heaven” … Zimbabwean transport operators drive to kill
I commute to work everyday and everyday I hear this statement “Rovera bhora mberi driver” coming from the commuter omnibus crew. After hearing this statement you have to prepare yourself for a Formula 1 kind of driving along Zimbabwe’s narrow pothole infested roads. 20 people who have lost their lives in another accident along Harare-Bulawayo road. I read this sad story in the Herald and one of the passengers in the Chawasarira bus narrated how it all started and I quote,
“From Mbare, the bus was speeding and they were racing with the Lofombo bus. Conductor nemaloader vanga vachingoti rovera bhora mberi driver, vachimhanyisana. (The conductor and the loaders were urging the driver to speed.) As he was overtaking, I heard a sound of something bursting and the next thing I saw was blood in the bus,” she said.
It seems like some people are driven by the passion of making money at any cost. The reason why these two bus drivers in this story were over speeding is “targets”. Bus owners set a target of the amount money their workers are supposed to bring to the company at the end of each day. So in order to meet the target, bus drivers tend to over speed and reach the target and make extra money for themselves. Even at a time when the bus develops a mechanical fault you find out that there was little attention paid for servicing the bus leading to passengers putting their lives at risk. I remember at one time Mhunga Bus Company lost its operator’s license after a series of accidents but it didn’t take long for the same company to come back on the roads.
Although bad roads can contribute to these road accidents the main cause is still over speeding and negligence. Lately the small commuter omnibuses “kombis” have been given a new name “Go Faster” meaning it can take you to your destination in a short time. Of late this name has been translated to “Go Faster to Heaven” because of the rate at which these buses are killing people. As Zimbabweans should we continue to be silent and listen to the conductor edging his driver to go full throttle when we know we do something? Should we allow bus operators to continue making profits at the expense of our lives? Isn’t it time we tell bus conductor that our lives cannot be compared to a soccer ball just waiting to be tossed around?