Harare businessman Nigel Chanakira has shared some tips on how motorists can avoid wheel clamping by City Parking marshals.
The Harare City Council recently gave City Parking marshals authority to clamp and fine traffic offenders in the Central Business District (CBD).
Posting on Twitter on Wednesday, Chanakira said his vehicle was clamped by the marshals while he was in a meeting.
He said he was asked to pay US$130 by City Parking, an amount he said “is totally disproportionate to the offence”.
Chanakira also took to Facebook on Thursday where he shared 12 tips on how motorists can avoid falling foul of Harare City Council’s “unjust” by-laws. He wrote:
We sending this message as an awareness when driving into Harare CBD on happenings that are of serious concern. We don’t want anyone to fall victim to the injurious by-laws in Harare CBD…
Please if you enter Harare city, be more cautious about correctly parking your car than about thieves and touts. Ndezvakudhara zviya.
1. Park your car in the correctly provided lot marked in white. If you can’t see the white, find the white and park there!
2. Make sure your four wheels don’t straddle the white markings. See the white. Don’t do the yellow ⚠
3. Immediately pay for your parking time. Look for the parking marshal within 2 minutes of parking and pay💰
4. Never leave your car before you pay unless you have approached a marshal and you have a person in the car to explain to clamping officers that someone is looking for the marshal.
5. If you’re alone and you can’t see the parking marshal do not leave your car unattended with no parking ticket. Stay there patiently until the marshal comes or is in view.
6. Alternatively you can pay using Ecocash after registering your car reg. no at *192#. Only then can you leave your car without a parking ticket, but with evidence in your phone of time payment done and hours paid for. This is the only explanation that can be entertained once your car is clamped.
7. Please pay for the exact time/ hours not estimate. If your time expires whilst you’re still caught up somewhere, you’ll pay heavily for the 4 minutes expired time. There is no explanation that can be entertained. You’ll lose USD132.00 to Council, penalty for 4 minutes for not paying RTGS900 for 1 hour. That’s the law as it stands. Mari irikutobuda zviripamutemo.
8. If you don’t pay USD132.00 after clamping, in 2 hours your car will be towed for USD50.00 to Council depot where it will attract USD50 storage fee per day until you take it out for another heftier penalty.
9. Never drop or pick up a passenger anywhere in an undesignated area. Parka mota yako woburutsa sekuru kana mbuya kana passenger yawakwidza. Sekuru vanosungwa vakabhadhariswa USD30 zvisina defence, zvakabhekwa nemurawu.
10. DON’T break the parking by-laws banking on a friend or contact at the Council to bail you out.
11. Unsuspecting Motorists and passengers are being sued and fleeced of their hard-earned cash through unscrupulous by-laws and please be warned and warn your other innocent public.
12. Beware of scammers and imposters pausing as Council police adding to the violence.
More: Pindula News