5.0
The political & human rights side of
Zimbabwe’s public transport crisis
ZIMBABWE PEACE PROJECT MONTHLY MONITORING REPORT
AUGUST 2021
ZPP’s in-depth focus on the complexity of the
crisis in the public transport sector.
Image: I Makawa
herald.co.zw
It has been three hours and Maria is starting to feel dizzy. Standing
in a queue while clutching her goods at the bustling ‘Copacabana’
bus terminus in Harare, she can only hope that the next bus comes
in the next few minutes.
It is getting dark and Maria, a vendor, is one of the many
Zimbabweans who face crippling public transport challenges every
day.
She has two difficult choices.
Either she joins the queue for the government-owned ZUPCO
buses, or she goes to ‘mushika-shika’.
Mushika-shika is a slang term that refers to pirate transport
operators who use undesignated pick up and drop off points, and
with the ban on private transport operators, minibuses, small vans
and light trucks have come in to fill the gap.
But getting onto a mushika shika is not a safe thing because of the
physical jostling that happens when boarding one.
Maria’s story is that of every Zimbabwean who uses public
transport.
Image: ZPP