Thursday’s horrific traffic accident in Beitbridge as well as yesterday’s head-on collision involving a Glenview 2 High School bus and a Mandaza bus in Beatrice are a stark reminder of the government’s failure to address the root causes of road carnage in Zimbabwe.
Both accidents were reportedly caused by human error — careless drivers who fail to adhere to basic traffic regulations.
Twenty-five people died in the Beitridge accident while three died yesterday in Beatrice.
These tragedies are not isolated incidents. They are symptomatic of a broader problem: the culture of recklessness and impunity that pervades our roads.
President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s declaration of the Beitbridge accident as a national disaster is a step in the right direction, but it must be followed by concrete action.
The government must take responsibility for its failure to enforce road traffic policies and regulations effectively.
An effective policing system should be able to stop such accidents from occurring.
But corruption has become endemic in the police and other state institutions charged with the mandate to ensure safety of travellers on the roads.
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Public service transport owners and their drivers are allowed to get away with murder literally, after paying bribes.
The government has to move beyond rhetoric and stem the road carnage.
There are many laws in our statutes that can be used to prevent road accidents, but the only reason why they are not properly applied is police ineptitude and corruption.
Police have to do their work and remove unfit drivers and vehicles from the country’s roads.
The police have been complicit in allowing public transport drivers to flout road rules with impunity.
Traffic police receive bribes and turn a blind eye to reckless driving, creating a culture of lawlessness on our roads.
The government’s response to such tragedies has also been woefully inadequate.
Transport minister Felix Mhona’s statement, which hinted at withdrawing the operating licence of the bus company involved, is a familiar example of government rhetoric that lacks substance.
Ultimately, the government must take responsibility for its failure to protect the lives of its citizens.
The blood of the 28 people who lost their lives in the two accidents is on the government's hands.
It is time for the government to take concrete action to prevent such tragedies from occurring again.
It is a given that this particular driver who chose to overtake without due care and at high speed, was not breaking road rules for the first time, but police did nothing until this needless loss of lives.
Such accidents bring to question the usefulness of the litany of police roadblocks on the country’s roads when drivers and vehicles that are not fit to be on the road, pass freely.
