The introduction of Zimbabwe United Passenger Company (ZUPCO) gave many people hope. Hope for a brighter future in a world of dark choices. Hope in….. You know what? We just want to get to work then back home safely and affordably. The recent upswing in prices has got me reeling from shock. I admit, I was hopeful the parastatal would bring public transport operators and commuters a bit closer to peace and some form of surety. I now can’t afford to go to my place of work because of a cost structure I did not ask for. ZUPCO, we need to talk.
Let’s rewind a little. Public transportation was a mess we get that. “Pirate taxi operators” were switching on the public faster than ZESA ever did. Prices were a tennis ball on a raft at sea the logic behind that being the rickety fuel prices. By the way, what is safety? At this point we were just content with what we have. The famed Fit was and still is not fit for the roads. The cost was too high anyways. Nothing has ever been normal we get that too.
Back to our current situation. Anything different? Check out the ZUPCO website and marvel at the “Astonishing Omnibus” which really is the same omnibus in the same condition that made me gullible to government propaganda. The Economist’s painkiller, the subsidy, seems to have not worked judging by this blog rant. Transport prices have shot up from $0.25usd, before ZUPCO ruled, to $0.50usd with ZUPCO now existing then to around $0.94usd. Practically speaking if you’re to give ZUPCO your hard earned dollar you’re not going to get your change back. An increase of 380% from problem to solution should surely have a justification right? Since when does a monopoly answer to the market? The best we got was a statement to the price hike by ZUPCO’s acting CEO Mr Madangwa, “The new fares are cost containment measure by the company.” That’s it, nothing more really.
Now here is my question. What is the point in changing the status quo if you are only going to introduce a cost structure that nobody asked for but everybody has to pay?
Not forgetting, the very taxis that were deemed unfit for public use are now operating under ZUPCO. I won’t touch on that simply because there are the bigger guys here. The old chicken buses built by who knows who as a guinea project for ZUPCO. Think of it this way, ZUPCO claims safety and reliability right? Now point to me a person who has not heard of a ZUPCO bus breaking down. I now know parts of a bus I never knew existed! Maybe it is a part of the curriculum nowadays. You just never know.
Besides the sprawling workshops and a lot of my friends going into ZUPCO then dropping out, I have not yet felt the benefits of having a parastatal granted monopoly. Maybe, just maybe ZUPCO should be renamed to “The Large Sticker Company.” After all, there hasn’t been anything different in public transportation since the arrival of this hero. I apologise sincerely, I left out the breakdowns and leaking roofs. So maybe there really is change.
To monopolize a service and then run the service down the drain surely that’s a scam…. Government needs to revisit this policy , we understand they are benefiting from the bus fares sincevthey are paid in cash but is it really worth it?
They really should. An update to the article, they reduced their prices in the following week after publishing this article.