Members of the Zimbabwe Republic Police in Bulawayo are reported to have engaged in a spirited campaign of impounding cars that are moving on the roads in a bid to enforce the lockdown.

An eye witness who wrote on Twitter said, “Drivers in Bulawayo take heed there is an operation by the police, cars are being impounded to Rose Camp for breaking the C-19 lockdown, Insurance umthelo. Fines are B600 and above, You will be seriously inconvenienced stay at home.”

A victim of the blitz took to Facebook and said, “Another thing police is impounding cars like crazy but selectively if you driving a Mercedes chances are you won’t be impounded. I got nabbed yesterday. Not even one officer has protective gear. Brace yourself a complete annihilation of byo.”

On Tuesday Bulawayo Mayor Solomon Madlala Mguni urged government agencies to effectively implement measures that will see the lockdown rules being adhered to.

“Latest statistics released by Ministry of Health & Child Care show that Bulawayo has now recorded 5 confirmed cases of Covid 19; with one death. A scaring rise from 0 in the past 11 days. We must now up the game as far as testing and dictation is concerned. 604 tested individuals is too small a number in a country with a population of 14 million people.

“We urge residents of Bulawayo to continue to practice social distancing by staying home in order to save lives. Government agencies must enforce an effective lockdown. This laxity and business as usual we are seeing in and around the city will not help us. This virus is fatal.” Mguni said