THE Zimbabwe Republic Police has launched a countrywide blitz targeting touts as they move to protect travellers.
The blitz comes at a time when travellers are having a torrid time as they are forced to board buses or other vehicles against their will.
The campaign, dubbed “No to Touts”, is targeted at nabbing touting gangs that have gained notoriety for harassing, threatening and forcing travellers to board public service vehicles and pirate taxis, according to a statement by national police spokesperson Commissioner Paul Nyathi.
He said 410 touts had been nabbed and taken to court as of June 20.
This is a noble exercise which must be supported.
Touts have become a menace, grabbing luggage from travellers and bundling them onto buses or pirate taxis.
Some people lose their valuables in the process.
In addition, touts have gained notoriety for overcharging passengers so that they get a bigger share.
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Some of the touts are self-employed while others are employed by transport operators to coerce passengers in the highly competitive passenger transport business.
So lucrative has been the touting business that the numbers have increased astronomically.
Police say pirate taxis, known as mishikashika, will not be spared.
The mishikashika have no respect for road rules, putting the lives of passengers, other motorists and pedestrians at risk.
Some of these vehicles are being driven by unlicensed drivers.
In this blitz against touts and pirate taxis, the law must be applied without fear or favour to end the lawlessness which has troubled local authorities for some time.
This will send a clear message that the government wants to restore sanity in cities and towns.
A half-hearted approach will not bring the desired results.
Catching and releasimg after getting bribes works against the noble initiative.
This is not the first time that such a blitz on touts and pirate taxis has been launched.
The fact that the practice has continued unabated shows that the measures are not deterrent enough.
The pirate taxis took advantage of a ban on kombis and have become the quickest mode of transport.
Most of the pirate taxis on the roads are owned by members of the security forces, including some police officers and the public will be watching closely how this is going to pan out.
Police patrols in the central business district have avoided some of these pirate taxis.
Some of the touts are accused of name-dropping senior politicians, which gives them the carte blanche to create chaos.
When cornered, they run to their political godfathers and godmothers for protection.
It will be interesting to see how the police will navigate around this.
We support the police’s stance that suspected touts will not pay admission of guilt fines at police stations and rather they will appear in court.
This will show that the police means business in this blitz.
