HARARE City Council is seeking government authority to charge spot fines for traffic related offences committed within the authority’s jurisdiction in line with international trends.
BY MOSES MATENGA
In an interview last week, town clerk Tendai Mahachi said they were hoping for a favourable response from government on the matter to act in the manner other municipal police the world over, South Africa in particular, were doing.
“We have applied for a status that allows our police to get spot fines. We have applied for that and we hope to get that,” said Mahachi. “Secondly, we want municipal courts to deal with these issues like what happens in Cape Town and Johannesburg (South Africa). We want to move with the time.”
At the moment the Zimbabwe Republic Police is in charge of all collections save for vehicle clamping and parking fines.
“We need support from all the ministries to get a nod and by January, we should have something,” Mahachi said.
In South Africa, provinces with similar metropolis status like Harare and Bulawayo have their metro police involved in fighting crime and policing road traffic. South Africa’s Johannesburg metro police, according to its website, is involved in fighting crime through its own city police force, and mounting video surveillance cameras in strategic spots to keep a watch on the streets. Besides dealing with day-to-day crime, the metro police roles also include policing road traffic, enforcing municipal by-laws and enforcing municipal regulations.
In Harare, the municipal police do not have arresting powers and this has crippled them in the discharge of duties.
