“Just Six Days: How a 1979 Fuel Blockade Crippled Rhodesia and Forced Ian Smith to Surrender Power”
In October 1979, it took just six days—only six days without fuel trucks crossing the South African border—for the entire Rhodesian economy to grind to a halt. Roads emptied, supplies dried up, and the illusion of control collapsed. The once-defiant Ian Smith, faced with economic paralysis, was forced to concede defeat and pave the way for Zimbabwe’s independence. Today, as Zimbabweans face yet another imposed burden through the ZBC licence tax, history offers a powerful lesson: when the wheels stop turning, the regime starts crumbling.
Harare – 27 May 2025
By Dorrothy Moyo | Zimbabwe faces the real possibility of a civil shutdown after the government enacted a controversial law forcing all motorists to pay a mandatory US$92 annual Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation (ZBC) radio licence before they can renew vehicle insurance or obtain a ZINARA road licence disc.
The law—Broadcasting Services Amendment Act (No. 2 of 2025)—was gazetted last week and immediately drew national outrage. According to its provisions, all motorists, regardless of their radio usage, must pay US$23 quarterly to fund the state broadcaster before receiving basic legal permission to drive.
In response, prominent opposition leader Nelson Chamisa has labelled the measure “draconian, anti-citizens and heartless,” urging Zimbabweans to question why they are being forced to fund what he described as “partisan propaganda” that demonizes them daily.
Legal experts and civil rights activists are now calling on citizens to escalate the protest into a full-scale national boycott of vehicle usage—a move that could paralyze the economy and expose the unsustainability of the government’s fiscal dependence on forced compliance.
Legal Justification for Protest
The call for mass non-compliance draws from historic precedent and the constitutional right to protest unjust taxation. Lawyers argue that compelling payment for a service one does not use—and which serves state interests rather than public ones—violates the principles of proportionality, necessity, and non-discrimination under Section 68 and 69 of the Zimbabwean Constitution.
“This is not a tax—it’s extortion through regulation,” says Advocate M. Sibanda. “You are criminalised for not supporting government media even if you never listen to it. It’s an unconstitutional burden on the right to movement and economic participation.”
A Call to Ground Zimbabwe’s Roads
Civic campaigners are mobilizing motorists to park their vehicles en masse for 30 days, beginning June 1st. The action is not only symbolic but economically strategic: over 1.2 million vehicles operate daily across Zimbabwe’s roads, fueling transport, trade, and logistics.
“If just 30% of motorists refuse to pay and ground their vehicles, fuel stations, toll gates, municipal parking, and logistics chains will choke—the system will grind to a halt,” says economic analyst Chido Mhlanga. “The regime will be forced to choose between enforcing its propaganda tax or restoring economic flow.”
This tactic mirrors the 1979 blockade when apartheid South Africa closed its borders to fuel trucks entering Rhodesia. Within six days, Ian Smith’s government began capitulation talks.
State Capture, Personal Enrichment Alleged
Adding to public fury is the widespread perception that the money raised will not benefit public broadcasting, but instead bankroll an elite cartel. ZBC has long been accused of operating as a mouthpiece of ZANU PF, with no financial transparency or editorial independence.
“There is no public broadcaster in Zimbabwe. There’s only ZANU FM, dressed up as ZBC,” Chamisa stated in his online address. “Now they want to force you to pay for your own psychological abuse.”
This moment is poised to become historic. Legal scholars argue that this may be the most critical civil disobedience opportunity since the Mugabe era—a moment to force accountability through economic non-participation. In their words: “When unjust laws are enforced by force, justice must be reclaimed through silence—and in this case, through stillness on the roads.”
Zimbabwe’s fate now rests in the hands of its drivers.