{"id":392,"date":"2025-05-18T17:54:22","date_gmt":"2025-05-18T17:54:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thewasupost.co.zw\/?p=392"},"modified":"2025-05-18T17:56:14","modified_gmt":"2025-05-18T17:56:14","slug":"mutare-cracks-down-on-rogue-touts-council-pushes-for-orderly-public-transport","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thewasupost.co.zw\/index.php\/2025\/05\/18\/mutare-cracks-down-on-rogue-touts-council-pushes-for-orderly-public-transport\/","title":{"rendered":"Mutare\u00a0 Cracks Down on Rogue Touts: Council Pushes for Orderly Public Transport"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

By Fanuel Chinowaita<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mutare \u2013<\/em> 18 May 2025 – On Thursday, during a transport stakeholders’ indaba held at Queens Hall, the City of Mutare announced firm plans to bring order to the public transport system by urging all commuter omnibus operators to register under recognized associations,\u00a0 a move aimed at phasing out unruly rank marshals, commonly known as mahwindi<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Currently, four major commuter associations operate in the city: Manicaland Drivers and Transporters Association (MDATA), Urban Link, Progressive Family Trust, and SCUTA. City authorities are encouraging all operators to affiliate with one of these bodies to legally operate in Mutare.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Acting Director of Special Planning, Engineer Brian Sango, said the council is collecting data on the associations\u2019 membership and their designated routes, in preparation for future regulatory steps.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Given the size of the city, we believe four associations are adequate for now, although we are not barring others from forming their own,\u201d said Eng. Sango.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The city plans to sign service agreements with these associations, allowing for the formal allocation of ranks and enhancing coordination. This is expected to eliminate the current crop of illegal marshals who harass passengers and are often accused of bribing municipal and national law enforcement officers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Acting Chamber Secretary Takunda Nyamande told operators that organizing into associations will also boost compliance, safety, and efficiency.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThere will come a time when no operator will be allowed to operate unless they are part of a registered association,\u201d Nyamande said. \u201cEach association will have its own marshals, replacing the current lawless ones. Vehicles will also be color-coded based on the association they belong to.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lynnette Mudehwe, representing the Manicaland Association of Passengers (MAPs), welcomed the move.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis is long overdue. Passengers’ safety is at risk, and we can\u2019t continue allowing non-compliant operators to delay. We hope that by Monday, the council will present a clear timeline for enforcement,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The initiative aligns with a 2024 Ministry of Transport directive mandating that all public transport operators be registered under formal associations to receive rank discs and permits. Without timely action, Mudehwe warned, the council\u2019s efforts could be undermined by continued noncompliance.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Fanuel Chinowaita Mutare \u2013 18 May 2025 – On Thursday, during a transport stakeholders’ indaba held at Queens Hall, the City of Mutare announced firm plans to bring order to the public transport system by urging all commuter omnibus operators to register under recognized associations,\u00a0 a move aimed at phasing out unruly rank marshals,…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":393,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[22,49,36,23],"class_list":["post-392","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-local-news","tag-city-of-mutare","tag-mura","tag-mutare-city-council","tag-sakubva"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/thewasupost.co.zw\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/DSC_8399.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thewasupost.co.zw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/392","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thewasupost.co.zw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thewasupost.co.zw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thewasupost.co.zw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thewasupost.co.zw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=392"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/thewasupost.co.zw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/392\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":396,"href":"https:\/\/thewasupost.co.zw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/392\/revisions\/396"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thewasupost.co.zw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/393"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thewasupost.co.zw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=392"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thewasupost.co.zw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=392"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thewasupost.co.zw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=392"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}