Own Correspondent
The City of Harare has announced that parking charges have been reviewed upwards with effect from 2 January 2020. A circular from the City states that motorists will now part with US$0.70 per hour to park their vehicles at designated parking spots around the city.
Motorists have already been battling to pay the current fee of US$0.50 especially for those who work in the CBD and have to drive into the city everyday.
A Harare entrepreneur who runs a shop along Julius Nyerere Street told ZimEye.com that he has had to quit bringing his car to work as he will be forced to pay City Parking US$5 per day for the ten hours he is in the city everyday at the current rate.
“I can’t afford the parking fees as at the end of each month I will be forced to part with about US$120 just for parking for the six days a week in town,” he said.
A lady who also works in the CBD said she is surviving by making use of a private parking space about four blocks away from her office who are levying US$10 per month for parking Monday to Friday.
Motorists have also raised complaints against officials from City Parking who are very quick to clamp vehicles whose parking time has expired without giving the owner a chance to pay for the extended time on return to the car.
“I had my car clamped when the parking time had exceeded by just six minutes and had to pay a lot more to have it unclamped,” said one motorist on social media.
Although the city council and City Parking have been expanding the reach of paid street parking, it is still possible to find free parking within a 15-minute walk of the city centre, especially to the east and west.
In the last two to three decades, most major corporate headquarters have left the city centre for office parks in the northern suburbs and investors and developers have built or expanded huge shopping complexes in the suburbs, again concentrating on the northern suburbs.
This change in business has seen the city centre more and more hosting smaller businesses that bus passengers, especially those stuck in the city centre while they wait for a connecting bus to their final destinations, might use.
Fees in the poshest parts of Johannesburg and Cape Town are more in the line of R50 a day, making even the US$0.50 an hour on the pricey side.
City Parking, the private company set up by the city council to manage street parking, parkades and car parks, unilaterally hiked its charges to US$0.70 an hour, although people could pay in local currency at the informal rate, a staggering $700 an hour and easily the most expensive in the entire Sadc region.
Read the city’s statement below:
PUBLIC NOTICE PARKING TARIFF ADJUSTMENT
THIS NOTICE SERVES TO INFORM THE MOTORING PUBLIC THAT, ON-STREET PARKING TARIFF IN HARARE CBD HAS BEEN ADJUSTED FROM ZW$50 TO ZW$70 PER HOUR.
THE ADJUSTMENTS ARE WITH EFFECT FROM THE 2″ OF JANUARY 2021.
PARK PAY AND GO WITH “USSD PARINASSIST”. SIMPLY DIAL ‘192# TO REGISTER AND PAY FOR PARKING USING ECOCASH.
MOTORISTS WHO PARK FOR LONG DURATION ARE ENCOURAGED TO MAKE USE OF OUR SAFE, SECURE AND AFFORDABLE PARKADES AND PARKING LOTS.
PLEASE PAY PARKING FEES TO AVOID INCONVENIENCES.
Contacts: Tel: (0242)707315/707876/0739885896 Website: www.cityparking.co.zw Email: [email protected] Facebook: City Parking Pvt Ltd Twitter: @CityParkingHre TOWARDS WORLD CLASS PARKING EXPERIENCE
