Passengers Association of Zimbabwe (PAZ) notes with grave concern the negative effect of fuel shortages. The commuting public is now being forced to pay high commuter omnibus fares. Commuter omnibuses are justifying the fare increases on the basis that they are getting their fuel from the black market. 

The commuting public is being forced to use other forms of transport such as open trucks, which will be overloaded. in many instances, school children end up sitting on each other’s legs in order to cut down on the amount of  commuter omnibus fares that they will be paying. Commuter omnibuses are overloading as passengers who donot have the required fare will sit behind the driver’s sit (paKadoma) or stand. In addition, many people are getting home as late as 10pm because of shortage of commuter omnibuses. This affects children and mothers and some people live in areas where its not safe to walk during late hours. The mass transportation system introduced by the Government is inadequate and most people still depend on commuter omnibuses (kombis) for daily commuting to work or school.

PAZ also notes that even ambulances are affected such that they at times fail to respond to emergencies included road accidents because of the unavailability of fuel. Given that commuters are forced to use unregistered or private vehicles, which are cheaper they have become susceptible to criminals who rob them of their belongings. 

We recommend that the Government of Zimbabwe should prioritize and allocate fuel to commuter omnibuses who are in Associations, for the convenience of the commuting public.