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Misheck Shambare: UNEMPLOYMENT: TRAVELERS DUPED.

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UNEMPLOYMENT: TRAVELERS DUPED.

Misheck Shambare

With unemployment rate soaring in the country which independent analysts speculates to be over 85 percent many people in the country are struggling to make ends meet.

The situation is even solemn as the leading country’s places of higher learning continue to churn out thousands of graduates every year but with no new jobs being created.

Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Union (ZCTU), a workers representative body has projected that more than 400 people are being retrenched every week with no exclusive packages.

In these calamitous situations many people have resorted to any means possible that will make them any a decent living and some of these people are women who are helping long distance commuter omnibuses to get their customers.

Dressed smartly these ladies go to undesignated long distance commuter omnibus ranks and conspire with kombi crews to masquerade as budding travelers already in the Kombi yet it will be a smear team in the Kombi deceiving prospective travelers into believing that the Kombi is already full and is about to go.

These women operate at the exhibition park rank for the Bulawayo-Gweru Kombis, Second street extension for Mt Darwin-Bindura rank and along Samora machel for Murewa-Bhora omnibuses.

Tendai Kanyepa, Gweru-Harare kombi driver said these women play a significant part into loading of our buses.

“Travelers have a tendency of getting into nearly full Kombis which at many times is not this case.

“It’s not easy to load passengers into a Kombi from scratch and with the help of these women it would seem the Kombi is already full yet its empty in actual sense,” said Kanyepa

These women will leave one by one in the Kombi they have aboard as real and prospective passengers come aboard.

When one passenger enters the Kombi one of the women leaves and in a chronological like that until the Kombi is full with latent passengers.

After the job each woman gets 50 cents or R5 for their services and a Kombi can hire at least eight of these women per load which is nearly close to half of the people who board the Kombi.

“In a good day we make close to $10 and $15 depending on the time of the month,” Emily Sande one of the woman who is into these trade said.

These women have find a way to earn a living through cheating travelers who at times prefer to hitch hike private motorists who will be going along their destination because they are fast compared to the Kombis.

“Travelers appear to be on the rush each time they are looking for faster means of transport which at times is not available hence they look for alternatives.

“These highway passengers do not want to be the first ones to be in a kombi and rather prefer a Kombi that is near full that’s where we come in making them believe the Kombi is full yet it’s not,” said Sande.

However highway passengers did not have kind words for these women siting that they are making them late to their destinations.

“It is not like I do not want to be the first few passengers in the Kombi but sometimes I will be rushing against time thereby I would like to board a Kombi that is nearly full,” said Lawrence Chirenje who was going along Binura highway road.

“Sometimes these Kombi drivers make you sit in the Kombi while they are making unnecessary rounds looking for prospective travelers which is stressful,” added Chirenje.

Urban Commuters Operators of Zimbabwe President Simbarashe Ngarande said it was unfortunate for these passengers to be tricked in such a way, but he however urged these highway travelers to board Kombi at designated points.

 “Passengers have the right to board whatever takes them fast as possible to their destinations but for these unlucky passengers they found themselves stark in these Kombis.

“It is imperative for Kombi crew to be honest to their passengers and for travelers they should board their transport at designated ranks,” said Ngarande

ZIMRA’s Intention to Tax Vendors Unfair

Misheck Shambare

Opinion

For vendors in the country, it never rains but it pours.

Recently the Zimbabwe Revenue Authority (Zimra) announced that it was going to descend on vendors and force them to pay tax from $2-$5 per day.

Vendors who usually play cat and mouse games with the city council inspectors and the Zimbabwe Republic Police while selling at undesignated points now have to contend with the national taxman.  

Given the meager profits they make from their vending, this new move by ZIMRA is bound to make their trade much leaner.

The question that emerges is how can Zimra tax vendors who are already struggling with life with ever continuing deterioration of our economy.

With media reports that Zimra has failed to meet its revenue target for the first half of the year owing to the current liquidity crunch and company closures, collecting tax from vendors can only be seen as a measure of desperation by the authority.

Zimra would be better placed plugging loopholes in its own heavily porous internal systems.

Let’s take for instance that the authority is responsible for collecting all the taxes at all border posts in the country.  It is a service that it is not doing so well due to their system which is regularly criticized on the basis of allegations of corruption.

Most goods that enter the country are some of them pass through the boarders without even paying the customs duty because of people within the system of Zimra who are heavily shady.

I once travelled to South Africa where I needed to buy some items for my family and on my way back the bus was loaded with several goods purchased by people there. Instead of the Zimra authority to come and do his duties at the bus they just instructed the driver to come with their amount which I did not think was equivalent to all the goods that were in the bus.

As for me I only paid a quarter of the money of the goods that I did purchase from South Africa through the loopholes.

As a result a lot of revenue was lost because the bus was loaded with cross boarder traders because of incompetence of the Zimra officials.

One cross boarder trader who was on the bus exposed that this has become the way of their life that they will just approach the driver and make him pay their duty through dappled means as this will benefit them in the long run of their business.

In the end many people are finding it easier to do their shopping outside the country. In fact many people when they think of buying clothes or house hold furniture they will just cross the border and buy there because it will be cheaper. In its place of Zimra promoting the “Buy Zimbabwe” campaign they are letting it down.

People arrested over social media in Zimbabwe so far

People arrested over social media in Zimbabwe so far

1)      Manduwa Mutare teenager arrested January 2014 for posting that Mugabe has died.

2)      Vikas Mavhudzi arrested 2011 for writing on Morgan Tsvangirai’s Facebook wall that the opposition should emulate the Egyptian style revolutions.

3)      Madzibaba Chacha arrested for posting a selfie wearing a uniform of the ZRP yet he is not a policeman.

4)      Edmund Kudzayi former Sundaymail Editor arrested for allegedly operating the Baba Jukwa Facebook page.

5)      Phillip Kudzayi, elder brother of  Edmund Kudakwashe Kudzayi arrested to be an accomplice of Baba Jukwa

6)      Jonathan Moyo Information Media and Broadcasting Services Minister questioned by the police over Baba Jukwa page investigations

7)      Saviour Kasukuwere questioned by the police over Baba Jukwa page investigations

8)      Herbert Huruba army official questioned over Baba Jukwa

9)      Romeo Musemburi, University of Zimbabwe student was arrested for criminal nuisance as he posted on Baba Jukwa that he wanted guns to fight in the street.

10)  Mxolisi Ncube, South Africa-based Zimbabwean journalist arrested linked to Baba Jukwa