In the community

‘We just have to brave it’: Women face assault on Zimbabwe’s public buses

Published

3 years ago

October 18, 2022

BY MARKO PHIRI

When Zimbabwe’s government started running a bus system earlier this year with fares on average one-third lower than those of private bus companies, Thandekile Gama was excited.

The 33-year-old hairdresser had grown tired of paying up to $3 (less than 10 U.S. cents) every time she took a trip within Bulawayo, the country’s second-largest city, so the new bus system with fares capped at 50 cents seemed like a gift.

But that gift came at a cost: Gama said the more affordable fares have led to overcrowding on the government-owned buses, putting her and other women she knows at greater risk of sexual harassment and assault as they travel.

“The buses are crowded, as would be expected, but there are creeps who ride the buses to fondle women,” she told the Thomson Reuters Foundation. “You just feel a hand feeling you up and then disappearing.”

Reports of harassment and rape on public transportation are on the rise, said Auxillia Sibanda, an assistant inspector with the Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP), at a public meeting in July.

She did not provide specific numbers, noting that the statistics were still being compiled.

World Bank figures show about one-third of Zimbabwe’s 16 million people live in urban areas, and that its urban population is growing about two percent annually.

Across the country, rapid population growth has led to increased demand for public utilities, including transport, according to legislator and women’s rights defender Tabitha Khumalo.

But authorities did not anticipate the impact of that demand on the safety of female commuters using public transportation such as private and state-run buses as well as unlicensed “pirate” taxis, she said.

The government re-launched the Zimbabwe United Passenger Company (Zupco) buses in January, several years after the state-owned company’s fleet was grounded following a litany of problems that included millions of dollars of debt and allegations of government corruption.

At the time of the re-launch, information minister Monica Mutsvangwa said Zupco was part of the modernisation of the national transport system and assured the nation that there would be “adequate security” to protect passengers.

Zupco’s acting CEO Everisto Madangwa said in a phone interview that those security measures include assigning at least one police officer to each bus, “to ensure passenger comfort and safety”.

Madangwa declined to directly respond to the accusations of sexual harassment on the company’s buses, but said the government regularly adds to the fleet to both meet demand and decrease congestion on the buses.

He added that the company plans to grow from the current 500 buses to 3,000 countrywide, without specifying a timeline for the target.

FINANCIAL RESPITE

Madangwa could not provide figures for how many passengers use the Zupco buses daily, but noted that the bus system has been popular from the first day it started running.

Gama and other passengers say much of that popularity stems from the low fares, which provide some financial respite for a population struggling through crippling inflation and shortages of bread, fuel and hard currency. (L8N24G1OY)

Female passengers have long been subjected to whistles, crude comments and groping on buses, Gama explained, but with so many people using the Zupco system, the harassment has become more aggressive and invasive.

“The sexual harassment has become too much, but (these) buses are the cheapest,” she told Thomson Reuters Foundation as she stood in a long queue to board a Zupco bus.

“We just have to brave it.”

A 2018 Thomson Reuters Foundation survey of 1,000 women in five of the world’s biggest commuter cities – London, New York, Mexico City, Tokyo and Cairo – found 52 percent cited safety as their top concern while using transport.

For Khumalo, the problem of women’s safety on Zimbabwean cities’ public transport systems is a “recent phenomenon, seen after the entry of government buses and proliferation of pirate taxis”.

She and a group of other female legislators have lobbied the government to set up a database of sex offenders “as many of these perpetrators are repeat offenders”.

In general, said Khumalo – who also serves as the national chair of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change – the government could do more to protect and support survivors of sexual violence.

Figures released in 2018 by the Musasa Project, a women’s rights group, revealed that up to 50% of rape cases in Zimbabwe go unprosecuted.

Lawmakers are currently drafting a bill that proposes a mandatory minimum of 60 years for the rape of anyone under the age of 12.

FEAR OF REPORTING

Bulawayo police spokesman Abednico Ncube told the Thomson Reuters Foundation that police were doing everything they could to ensure women’s safety on public transportation.

But the congestion means officers “cannot monitor each and every passenger”, he added.

Ncube advised anyone who experiences sexual harassment while riding on a bus to report the incident immediately after it happens.

“It is important for victims of indecent assault to attract the attention of witnesses as soon as they feel violated so that police can effect arrests,” he said.

But there is a problem with that advice, said Gillian Chinzete, project director at the Institute for Young Women’s Development, which supports women’s participation in political processes.

Women in Zimbabwe are often reluctant to report harassment for fear of not being taken seriously, she said.

“There must be training of the police on how to deal with cases of public violence against women … as a way of instilling confidence in the victims,” said Chinzete.

Gama, the hairdresser in Bulawayo, agreed, saying that she and other women she knows have learned to live with being groped on the bus.

Because to go to the police, she said, is to risk being ridiculed for reporting a “petty crime with no known perpetrator”.

“It’s difficult as it is to report rape,” she said.

“Imagine trying to report being fondled by a hand you did not see.” – Thomson Reuters Foundation

In the community

Free dental outreach treats over 700 in Victoria Falls

Published

2 days ago

March 17, 2026

VicFallsLive

BY NOKUTHABA DLAMINI

More than 700 residents in Victoria Falls have received free dental care following a three-day outreach programme held at Mkhosana Clinic.

The initiative, led by global charity SmileStar in partnership with CIMAS, saw 705 patients treated between 9 and 11 March. The programme builds on previous outreach efforts in the region and is expanding this year to include Matobo.

A team of 16 volunteer dental professionals—many from Dentex—provided urgent treatment, pain relief, and oral health education, while also sharing skills with local healthcare workers.

Team leader Dr Mitesh Badiani said tooth decay linked to high sugar consumption, particularly among children, was the most common issue encountered.

“Many of these dental problems are preventable, and education plays a key role in helping to avoid such problems in the future,” he said.

The outreach received support from Africa Albida Tourism, with the team hosted at Victoria Falls Safari Lodge.

Africa Albida Tourism managing director Nigel Frost said the initiative would have lasting benefits for the community.

“This initiative provides vital dental care and education that will continue to benefit the residents of Victoria Falls long after the clinics have ended,” he said.

Mark Cockburn added that the programme highlighted the impact of volunteerism in addressing healthcare gaps.

Following the Victoria Falls outreach, SmileStar continued its programme in Hwange, before moving to Matobo today and tomorrow at Ethandweni Children’s Home, with a target of treating more than 1 000 patients across the three regions.

In the community

Kamativi mine to relocate 65 graves to pave way for operations

Published

2 days ago

March 17, 2026

VicFallsLive

BY STAFF REPORTER

Sixty-five human remains are set to be exhumed from the Kamativi Mining Company premises in Matabeleland North as the firm moves to clear a section of land earmarked for ongoing mining operations.

The development follows a formal notice issued by Kamativi Mining Company in compliance with the Cemeteries Act, which governs the handling and relocation of human remains.

“Notice is hereby issued by Kamativi Mining Company in compliance with the Cemeteries Act, Chapter 5:04, regarding the relocation and reburial of 65 graves situated within the dry tailings operational area at Kamativi Mine, located in the Hwange District of Matabeleland North Province,” the notice read.

According to the company, the relocation is necessary to ensure that mining activities within the affected zone can proceed safely and sustainably.

The graves are located within the mine’s dry tailings operational area, a key section linked to current and planned extraction processes.

While the notice outlines compliance with legal requirements, the move is likely to raise sensitivities among local communities, given the cultural and emotional significance attached to burial sites.

Kamativi Mining Company has urged stakeholders and individuals with concerns or inquiries to engage directly with the company for further clarification on the exhumation and reburial process.

No timeline for the relocation has been publicly disclosed.

Additional reporting source: Byo24 News

In the community

Hwange West MP demands urgent action after two killed by elephants in Victoria Falls

Published

3 weeks ago

February 26, 2026

VicFallsLive

BY NOKUTHABA DLAMINI

VICTORIA FALLS – Hwange West legislator Vusumuzi Moyo has called for urgent and decisive intervention to address escalating human-elephant conflict after two people were killed by elephants in Victoria Falls within the space of a week.

Rising on a point of national interest in the National Assembly, Moyo said the recent deaths had left families in mourning and exposed the growing danger faced by communities living near wildlife corridors.

“In closing, Mr Speaker Sir, I want to convey my message to two families within Victoria Falls. This happened within a week. They lost their lives because of this conflict,” Moyo said. “In a space of a week, two families are mourning the loss of their loved ones.”

Victoria Falls and surrounding communities, which border wildlife areas, have in recent years experienced increased incidents of elephants straying into residential areas, destroying crops and infrastructure, and in some cases fatally attacking residents.

Moyo told Parliament that the crisis must no longer be viewed solely as a conservation issue but as a matter of human dignity and national development.

“My issue is not merely about wildlife management. It is about national development, constitutional responsibility and ultimately, protecting human dignity,” he said.

He warned that communities from Kariba to Binga, and in tourism corridors around Victoria Falls, are “under siege” from escalating human-elephant conflict.

“Families are losing crops, infrastructure is being destroyed and tragically, lives continue to be lost. This House cannot ignore the cries of rural citizens who coexist with wildlife every day,” Moyo said.

The Hwange West MP defended previous government decisions to cull elephants in high-conflict zones, arguing that such measures were sometimes necessary to restore ecological balance and protect human life.

“These are not acts of recklessness but acts of necessity because conservation must never come at the expense of human survival,” he said.

While acknowledging the importance of non-lethal measures such as fencing and translocation, Moyo said in some areas those interventions were no longer sufficient on their own.

He urged authorities to urgently implement provisions of the Parks and Wildlife Act, promulgated on 28 November 2025, particularly in communities bordering national parks.

“It is my sincere hope that the implementation of the Parks and Wildlife Act… will be taken to the areas that border within national parks so that people appreciate and that the regulations can be done as fast as possible,” he said.

Moyo stressed that Parliament must strike a balance between conservation and protecting human life.

“The people are not asking Parliament to choose between elephants and human beings. They are asking us to restore the balance,” he said.

The latest fatalities have renewed debate in Victoria Falls over how authorities can better safeguard residents while maintaining Zimbabwe’s strong conservation reputation.