TOYOTA Granvia pirate taxi drivers plying the Bulawayo-Plumtree Highway are now stranded as commuters are shunning their vehicles following a spate of fatal road accidents involving these vehicles.Commuters who spoke in separate interviews indicated that they now feared to board these vehicles which they now refer to as “grave yards”. Some commuters said they now preferred kombis over Granvia vehicles out of fear of losing their lives.
At one of the passenger pick-up points in Plumtree people were milling around in numbers while touts fruitlessly tried to engage commuters to board Granvias.
“I am never boarding a Granvia again because these vehicles are moving grave yards. Each time they are involved in an accident people have to die. We have other public service vehicles like kombis and buses that are also plying the Bulawayo-Plumtree Highway but it’s only Granvia’s that kill people.
“This just proves that these vehicles are deadly and they should be banned from the road but I know that this will never happen as most of them are owned by police officers,” said Mr Gift Shoko who stays in Plumtree.
He said he now opted to board a kombi even though it would take longer to depart.
Mr Shoko said he used to prefer Granvias as they had lower carrying capacity but he now feared for his life.
“I would rather spend hours sitting in a kombi waiting for it to fill up rather than rush to my death by boarding a Granvia. I used to prefer Granvias as they fill up quickly but these frequent accidents involving these vehicles have made me think otherwise,” said Mr Shoko.
Another commuter, Mrs Tracy Ndlovu said some of the Granvia vehicles were not roadworthy but were being allowed to ferry passengers.
Kombi drivers who are plying the Bulawayo-Plumtree Highway have capitalised on this situation to lure passengers.
One kombi driver who was loading his vehicle at Bellevue during the week was urging people to board kombis as they were a safe mode of transport.
A Granvia driver plying the highway, Mr Mthokozisi Moyo said it had become difficult to get customers.
He said they now had to spend hours roaming around pick-up points trying to persuade passengers to board their vehicles.
An owner of a Granvia vehicle who is also the Matabeleland South provincial transport consultative committee chairperson, Mr Jonathan Mlambo said commuters that were shunning Granvia vehicles were acting under the influence of kombi drivers who were trying to lure customers.
He said there was nothing wrong with Granvia vehicles as accidents were a result of human error.
“If an accident occurs it is mostly because the driver would have done something wrong and not because they are using a particular vehicle. For example the last accident which occurred close to Plumtree was because the driver was travelling at 140 kilometres per hour,” he said.
Mr Mlambo said accidents were tragic but pointed out that other public service vehicles were also being involved in accidents.
He said there were more Granvias than kombis plying the Bulawayo-Plumtree Highway which explained why most accidents involved Granvias.
Mr Mlambo said kombi drivers were now poisoning the minds of people by spreading news that Granvias were deadly.
Last month two women died while 11 other people were injured, five of them critically after the left rear tyre of a Granvia vehicle they were travelling in burst causing it to overturn.
The vehicle which was bound for Francistown coming from Bulawayo overturned at the 90 kilometre peg along the Bulawayo-Plumtree Highway. The driver is reported to have failed to control the vehicle as he was speeding.
In another incident four people died and nine others were critically injured after a Granvia vehicle they were travelling in veered off the road and overturned before smashing into a tree along Bulawayo-Plumtree Road.
In another incident a 41-year-old woman from Bulawayo died while 13 other people including two juveniles were injured when one of the tyres of a Granvia vehicle they were travelling in burst causing it to roll several times.
The driver was suspected to have been speeding and he failed to control the vehicle. His passengers pointed out that he first fled from VID officers and later fled from a police roadblock and from there on maintained a high speed which they tried to warn him about. sunday news NEWS
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