A Weekend of Sorrow: More Lives Lost on Zimbabwe’s Roads

By Ilyana Sithole

Over the weekend, the Masvingo highway was the site of a terrible series of accidents that culminated in a disaster that left 24 dead. The tragic loss only serves to highlight an unsavory fact: Zimbabwe roads are killing fields. Too many are perishing, turning traveling into horror and families funeral mourners. The very roads that ought to be bringing us together are leading us to tragedy.

Zimbabwe’s ranking in world road accident statistics is horrible. We are always ranked among the top nations in road traffic deaths. According to the World Health Organization Zimbabwe’s record is regretfully very high, a sad reflection on the condition of our roads and culture of driving. The figures amount to 5 deaths and 38 injuries per day. These are not statistics; these are broken lives, bereaved families, and a nation torn apart by a avoidable calamity.

Travel in Zimbabwe is a risk to one’s life. Fear is real – will I make it to where I am going, or be another statistic? As our emergency responders do what they can, sometimes without the equipment to support them and up against seemingly insurmountable challenges, the reality is that a response time of one-to-two hours is unacceptable. Lives are lost in the instant, victims delayed medical care in a timely fashion.

This is compounded by the condition of our health care system. Our already thin hospitals are overwhelmed with the number of accident victims. Rather than being islands of hope and recovery, they are viewed more as places of survival rather than restoration. This is a severe criticism of a system that desperately needs repair.

A number of factors are contributing to this abhorrent state of affairs. Our roads, though improved somewhat, are generally in bad condition, poorly lit, unmarked, and full of potholes. These conditions, especially at night, are a major hazard to drivers. Overcrowded urban centers, such as Harare and Bulawayo, with their ever-present traffic congestion, introduce another element of stress and risk. The condition of many cars on our roads is questionable too. Older, battered cars are likely to break down, and breakdowns can quickly cause accidents.

But the blame game is not that simple. Is the infrastructure entirely the government’s responsibility? Are drivers entirely to blame for reckless driving? Or is it a mix of things, including poor driver training, weak enforcement of traffic rules, and a culture of impunity on the roads? Maybe, as others would have it, it is destiny, a sad determinism. Reality, most probably, is in an intersection of all these things.

Existing legislative move, like the amendment to the Road Traffic (Licensing of Drivers) Regulations, requiring more experience on the part of drivers of public service vehicles, is in the right direction. But even such moves won’t stop the problem. They do not touch on the root causes of road infrastructure, car maintenance, and driver attitude. Why, for example, is the “no to mushikashika” campaign primarily directed at kombis and pirate taxis, when buses, also frequently implicated in accidents, are seemingly given a free pass?

The Vision 2030 of the government, where attention is being focused on infrastructural development, such as roads, is a promise. The proclaimed goals of constructing world-class highways, renovating border crossings, and enhancing the rail infrastructure are imperative. But these goals must be turned into deeds at a rapid pace. We cannot delay any longer as people are dying.

As we grieve for the fatalities in this weekend’s accident, we should also think of the need to change. We require a multi-faceted approach that deals with all areas of road safety. This entails investment in improved roads, strict enforcement of traffic regulations, improved driver training, and a safe use of roads culture. We also require toughing up our emergency response systems as well as enhancing the ability of our hospitals to cope with accident victims.

It’s in our hands at last. We are all responsible for making our roads safer. Whether as drivers, passengers, or pedestrians, we must be careful and responsible. We should not forget that each life lost on our roads is a tragedy, a loss that echoes across families and communities – we are losing children, siblings, parents, breadwinners – loss of life is not statistics. Let us unite to make our roads routes to our destinations, not gateways to tragedy. It’s time to make our roads safe highways for everyone, not death traps.