by Favour Matenga
The recent increase in fuel prices has presented commuter transport operators with an opportunity to increase their fares to extortionate levels which is burdening the commuting public. The operators are using the fuel prices which were effected over the weekend.
On Saturday night, President Emmerson Mnangagwa announced fuel prices increases from $1.26 to $3.11 per litre of diesel and from $1.34 per litre of petrol to $3.31, a move which was lauded by economic experts such as John Robertson as a painful but necessary measure.
During the run up to the price increase, the operators had already started increasing their fares citing that they were getting fuel from the black market and spending hours on end queuing for fuel. The increasing of the fare has seen them increasing fares to match black market fuel prices which are based on the black market United States dollar to the bond note.
Residents of Harare’s satellite towns such as Chitungwiza, Norton and Ruwa are the hardest hit by the fare increases as they now have to fork out as much as $6 one way.
“We used to pay $1 for the 25 kilometre trip to Chitungwiza and a maximum of $2 at peak hours or when it is raining but this has been trebled to up to $6 per trip. This is just exploitative. The touts and conductors openly shout that each passenger’s fare per trip has to fund a litre of fuel,” said Vivian Gondo of Unit O in Chitungwiza’s Seke suburb.
“On average, the 25km trip to Chitungwiza requires about two litres of fuel or less for St Mary’s and Zengeza which are less than 25 km from Harare. This means that in an 18 seater commuter minibus only about three passengers’ fares go towards fuel for the trip while the rest of the fare, which is $46.65, is pocketed by both the operators and their crews,” said Gondo.
“The new administration has avoided controlling fares and prices which allowed operators to regulate their own fare charging, a system that has operated relatively well since February 2009 until the recent fuel shortages which started in October last year. Given our suffering, I feel that Government should intervene on behalf of the commuters,” chipped in Petros Katandika of Glen View.
“I have now moved from using the normal commuter transport vehicles to open trucks in order to cope with changing financial circumstances. I think it is time that Government revives ZUPCO’s status as a commuter transport operator,” weighed in Vimbai Mufunda of Norton.
Commuter transport operators groups such as the Greater Harare Association of Commuter Omnibus Operators (GHACO) have reportedly distanced themselves from the steep fare increases and blamed their crews for the usurious fares.
