Pirate Taxis Rule the Streets as Council Turns a Blind Eye

Along Leopold Takawira Street, just steps from Harare City Council’s Cleveland House and a stone’s throw from Town House, a brazen illegal taxi rank is thriving in broad daylight–allegedly under the protective gaze of municipal officials.

Despite widespread concern over the chaos caused by pirate taxis (mushikashika), council officials are said to be doing little–if anything–to stop them.

These operations, hiding in plain sight, have raised serious concerns about deep-seated corruption and collusion at City Hall.

Alarmingly, only 3,000 out of an estimated 16,000 kombis in Harare are registered with the local authority.

The rest rogue operators allegedly grease the palms of municipal police to avoid clamping and fines, while compliant operators cry foul.

The so-called “Avondale rank,” located on Leopold Takawira, operates shamelessly during peak hours.

Pirate taxis line up openly, picking passengers by the zebra crossing, while municipal enforcement agents linger nearby, often parked right next to the very vehicles they should be clamping.

The herald observed that each morning, a municipal truck cruises past the illegal rank ignoring it and targets private motorists and other less “connected” illegal ranks instead.

“People are being robbed daily. It’s no longer just about illegal transport, it’s a crime zone,” said an airtime vendor at the scene, who described how pickpockets blend in with the crowd and use the taxis as cover to snatch phones and wallets.

Vehicles at this rank typically dented Honda Fits, Sientas, and AD Vans clog the street so severely that motorists are forced into a single lane.

Pedestrians, meanwhile, are pushed off the zebra crossing entirely, risking life and limb to cross elsewhere.

Trymore Chihwa, a concerned resident, said: “The rank has taken over a pedestrian crossing. There’s no space to walk. It’s an embarrassment.”

Public transport associations say they’re fed up. Ngoni Katsvairo, secretary-general of GHACCO, accused the authorities of punishing legal operators while syndicates run amok with impunity.

Fradreck Maguramhinga, president of ZUDAC, said municipal police are sabotaging efforts at compliance.

“They harass those with paperwork while protecting those who pay bribes,” Maguramhinga said.

“Some of our operators were fined for being in the CBD while they were actually in Avondale. Only our GPS trackers saved them.”

He added that while council “commanders” talk reform, it’s the foot soldiers who undermine it, allegedly collecting bribes via touts who demand “rank fees” of up to US$10 per vehicle every Monday.

Any mushikashika operator who gets arrested must reportedly cough up US$40 or more to avoid repeated clampdowns.

In response to these allegations, Harare’s Chief Traffic Officer, Martin Chimombe, dismissed the corruption claims and said the council lacks manpower to manage illegal ranks citywide.

“Targeting municipal police alone ignores the bigger picture,” Chimombe argued.

“We need technology cameras like the ones already installed downtown. That’s how cities achieve 100% compliance, not with a handful of officers chasing thousands of offenders.”

But while council calls for more tech, the public calls for accountability and the streets of Harare remain a battleground between legality, livelihood, and lawlessness.