THE Consumer Council of Zimbabwe (CCZ) has bemoaned the failure by the government to allocate funds in the recently announced 2025 National Budget towards improving the public transportation system in the country.
In a statement, CCZ chief executive officer Rose Mpofu said the government should have considered suspending duty on public service buses.
“Public transport remains a big challenge and consumers are always being taken advantage of, especially women because they are usually harassed by disrespectful touts. Also children and people with disabilities are always being taken advantage of,” she said.
She said commuter omnibus operators disregard the fair pricing system, always finding ways of circumventing it through hiking fares when it rains, or in the evening when commuters are desperate to get home.
Mpofu said the government should have considered allocating some funds towards resuscitating Zupco to enable it to grow its fleet and provide an affordable and efficient service. She said a reliable public transport system would assist in decongesting the roads as most people will use it instead of the private commuter omnibuses, commonly known as “kombis”, and pirate taxis, known as “mushikashika”.
Jobs would also be created and the dignity that consumers get from using public transport would also be created. “Resuscitation of the National Railways of Zimbabwe (NRZ) is also very important and we are happy that it was given a huge chunk to try and upscale its operations,” Mpofu said.
She welcomed the suspension of duty on inputs for producing motor vehicles saying this will promote value addition and create employment which will benefit consumers as more income is earned.
On the issue of withholding tax on betting, Mpofu said it is a positive move as it would result in more people paying taxes and increased revenue generation for the government to fund social programmes.
She also hailed the government for increasing the minimum tax threshold, but suggested that it should have been informed by the family basket of six. —New Ziana
