Colleen Chitsa
Following concerns raised by residents on the clamping and towing fees charged by the council as being relatively high, Masvingo City Council Finance Director Dannister Jori said the council will revisit the fines.
Responding to residents during a meeting between Masvingo United Residents and Ratepayers Alliance (MURRA) and council management on March 24, 2023 at Civic Center, Jori said the purpose of pre-paid parking is to control parking and ensure that motorists observe traffic laws.
“Our pre paid parking is governed by Masvingo Pre Paid Parking Disc and Clamping and Tow away By-Laws of 2015 Statutory Instrument 18 and our by-law guides us on the penalties and the idea is to decongest our Central Business District (CBD) and ensure convenient business.
“Clamping and towing is our last resort. It is usually done for the notorious motorists who refuse to adhere to the law of pre-paid parking,” said Jori.
Currently the penalties for clamping and towing are US$ 30 and US$ 100 respectively and some residents feel the need for adjustments of the fines.
One resident bemoaned the penalties saying they are too high and suggest that some parking marshals need to do their work professionally before clamping cars.
“The clamping and towing fines are a bit too high for us. Sometimes when our cars are clamped, it is not because we do not want to adhere to the parking laws but some of these marshals deliberately hide when they see a car entering a parking lot and clamp it as soon as they see the owner leaving my car,” said the resident.
A request for senior residents and those living with disabilities to be exempted from paying the fines was also made by one resident.
“My plea is for the council exempt senior citizens and those living with disabilities from paying such penalties because it is difficult for them to raise the money. If possible, council should make some type of identification and exemption cards so that they won’t have their cars clamped or towed away,” said the resident.
Another resident raised an allegation about some parking marshals being corrupt when charging the clamping and towing penalties.
“There are some allegations about corruption where parking marshals clamp your car and ask you a lesser amount of money like US$ 5 or US$ 10 in order for them to release your car without taking it away and because the penalties are too high, I end up giving them that money to get my car back,” the resident said.
Jori however ensured the residents that they will look into those issues and on the by-law and reviews on the grievances will be considered.
“Under whatever circumstances, we should not condone corruption and it is my plea that if you see such actions from our marshals, contact me with provided evidence of the corruption and we will immediately deal with the situation,” said Jori.
