By Rex Mphisa
SOME Beitbridge residents have taken a swipe at teams of the Highway Patrol who are driving deep into Dulivhadzimu High Density Suburb chasing local vehicles.
“This is a waste of resources and is not the purpose why those vehicles were deployed. Government expects them to put order on the highways but you find them chasing cars in Dulivhadzimu far away from their expected role,” Pastor Mabhena recently said during a Crime Liaison Committee meeting.
“Highway patrol teams should be on the highway, that is what people and the nation expects,” he said.
The ZRP operates a fleet of high-powered double-cab Ford Rangers cars for its rebranded National Highway Patrol.
Rolled out to combat reckless driving and enforce road safety, these patrol vehicles are equipped with body-worn cameras and are part of an electronic traffic management system.
The initial rollout introduced five of these Ford Ranger double-cab vehicles but shortly after, the ZRP bolstered the highway patrol fleet by adding three Ford Everest SUVs, bringing the core fleet to nine.
These specialized patrol vehicles are actively deployed to major highways to enforce traffic regulations, and the public is encouraged to report reckless driving directly to the patrol teams.
But in Dulivhadzimu local motorists complained about these vehicles entering the low high density suburb and chasing after local cars not on the highway, something they believed was a role for local police.
But some residents also felt the presence of the patrol vehicles brought sanity to local drivers.
“What is there to be afraid of if your stuff is in order? Police should be everywhere, patrolling anywhere,” said Barry Chiutsi of Kwalu.
“We have many unlicened drivers who pose a danger to children and other residents. It can only be the guilty who are afraid,” he said.