Published by the government of Zimbabwe
6 January 2009
Harare — SIX more people have people died in road accidents, bringing the holiday death toll to 85 in 749 accidents that were recorded during the festive season.
At least 483 people were injured countrywide during the same period.
Most of the accidents were attributed to the prevailing wet conditions, defective vehicles, inattention, speeding, fatigue, poor road conditions and livestock straying onto the roads.
Masvingo Province had the highest number of deaths with 18, followed by Matabeleland South and Harare, which had 13 each, while Midlands had 12 fatalities.
Mashonaland East recorded 11 deaths Mashonaland West had eight, Manicaland five and Bulawayo three.
Mashonaland Central, one of the provinces where no deaths had been recorded earlier, now has two.
No deaths were recorded in Matabeleland North.
Of the 483 injured, 107 were in Midlands, 87 in Harare, 75 in Mashonaland East, 69 in Masvingo, 45 in Mashonaland West, 43 in Bulawayo, 33 in Manicaland while Matabeleland South had 20 people injured.
Four others were injured in Mashonaland Central while no one was injured in Matabeleland North.
Police spokesperson Superintendent Andrew Phiri said motorists should continue exercising caution.
"We know that the holiday is over and we want to urge motorists to continue to exercise caution when travelling on roads, especially during this rainy season when most of the roads would be wet," he said.
He said motorists, especially those driving public service vehicle, should ensure that the vehicles were roadworthy before putting them on roads and should be serviceable.
"People, especially children, will also be travelling back to schools, rural and urban areas in time for the reopening of schools, therefore motorists should avoid overloading.
"Motorists should also exercise extreme caution and obey the rules and regulations when driving on the country's roads," said Supt Phiri.
Meanwhile, the 214 suspected offenders rounded up in a police blitz on streetwalkers and illegal foreign currency dealers were assisting police with investigations, with police saying the crackdown was ongoing.
Of the 214 who were all arrested in the central business district, three were ladies of the night, 197 illegal foreign currency dealers and 14 vendors.
Harare provincial police spokesperson Inspector James Sabau said that they were keen to rid the streets of prostitutes and illegal forex dealers.
He said those arrested would undergo a vetting process at Harare Central Police Station as they believe that some could have committed various crimes.
Insp Sabau said they had discovered that some of the suspects were on the wanted persons list.
Most of them were wanted for theft and assault, among other cases.
Two weeks ago, police arrested 500 suspects under the crackdown, which is targeting Harare and Chitungwiza districts.
This comes after police realised that many street corners were infested with moneychangers and prostitutes who were disrupting business and the free movement of people.
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