Bulawayo beats Harare in traffic cameras installation

RESIDENTS and motorists in Bulawayo have hailed Bulawayo City Council (BCC) for installing street cameras meant to discourage flouting of road rules and regulations.

The local authority has already installed the cameras along Leopold Takawira Avenue and Samuel Parirenyatwa Street as a trial run before they install the cameras in the different parts of the city.

Residents commended the council for its efforts to combat traffic offences. Some residents said the move will help police to arrest criminals in the city, especially pick pockets and thieves that break into cars at parking bays.

Mxolisi Sibanda, from Nkulumane suburb said he hoped that the city would install more cameras across the city as they were long overdue. A retired teacher, Mrs Eveline Nkomo, said she often gets frustrated while driving due to disregard of road rules by some motorists.

"I am a retired teacher and I drove on these streets before there were so many cars in the late 90s to the early 2000s. It was a pleasure to drive in Bulawayo because motorists were courteous. These cameras are definitely going to bring sanity on our roads as offenders will be punished," said Mrs Nkomo.

Another Bulawayo resident, Mr Nkathazo Mzizi said council should move quickly to install cameras on the city's busiest streets and intersections.

"Right now it is all about who is bravest and who has the guts to do what they want. We also want cameras at the Joshua Mqabuko Nkomo Statue, at Chicken Slice robots along 9th Avenue and Fort Street and most importantly at the TM Pick n Pay Hyper intersection because a lot of tomfoolery happens there with taxi drivers and other motorist not obeying road rules. We are always driving at the mercy of pirate taxis there. Sometimes the kombis are much better but these mushikashikas will just encroach onto your lane overtake at a robot, drop off passengers in the middle of an intersection and you are just left amazed," said Mr Mzizi.

Many motorists said they were happy that the city is embracing technology. Pirate taxis drivers, however, said they felt the move was meant to inhibit their operations as police would monitor them from the cameras and then follow up to fine them.

"We know that this is a war against us and council is probably of the view that clamping our vehicles and taking them to stores is not enough. Times are hard but they want us off the roads. If we cannot ply these routes, then it means we will all become robbers as we need to earn a living. We are not stealing from anyone, we are just transporting conveniently," said Mr Lawrence Mboma, a pirate Honda fit driver who operates along Robert Mugabe way.

Bulawayo City Council spokesperson, Miss Bongiwe Ngwenya, on Thursday said the trial cameras were a precursor to the installation of the gadgets on major roads in Bulawayo.

"The City of Bulawayo has installed a demonstration traffic camera unit along Leopold Takawira Avenue and Samuel Parirenyatwa Street. The traffic camera was installed on Tuesday 23 October and will be removed after five days.

"The camera will be checking a number of aspects which include the speed at which vehicles are travelling at robots, traffic violations, conduct traffic count by recording vehicles passing through and record the areas surrounding the traffic installation," said Miss Ngwenya.

She said after the five- day trial coucil would assess the efficiency of the system before rolling it out to the rest of the city.

"Traffic cameras present a number of benefits for the city of Bulawayo which include identification of traffic offenders, assisting in the investigation of people who hit traffic lights or street poles and also assist the city in traffic planning through traffic counts.