Zim rangers rescue girl (13) after abduction,

Rangers rescued the girl after they heard her screams while on an anti-poaching patrol in the Victoria Falls.

Conservationists have applauded game rangers in Victoria Falls after they rescued a 13-year old girl who had been abducted and raped.

The rangers were tracking poachers in the area when they were alerted by the girl’s screams.

The Victoria Falls taxi driver was supposed to drive his teenage passenger home from school. Instead, he’s alleged to have driven her to the municipal dump and raped her.

Rangers from the International Anti-poaching Foundation were on an anti-poaching patrol in the area and heard the girl’s screams.

They responded and arrested the driver.

The state-run Chronicle reports that the man has already appeared in court on charges of rape.

On Facebook, conservationists in Victoria Falls and members of the public have applauded the work of the rangers, calling them heroes.

Source: Zim rangers rescue girl (13) after abduction, rape (22/05/17)

SAA strike leaves hundreds stranded at Victoria Falls Airport

A strike by South African Airways cabin crew has left hundreds of passengers stranded at Victoria Falls International Airport.

The passengers who were booked for the Tuesday flight could not travel and were booked at a local hotel while some have been transferred to a British Airways flight this afternoon.

More passengers are still stranded as the flight failed to accommodate all the passengers.

Source: SAA strike leaves hundreds stranded at Victoria Falls Airport (27/04/17)

Taxi drivers riot in Livingstone over the hike in fuel prices

Police moved in to quell riots that broke out in Livingstone Wednesday morning.Police rounded up 54 taxi drivers and other vendors who were protesting.

(Image credit Lusaka Times)

The riots which were concentrated in the city centre saw irate drivers fight running battles with armed police officers.The drivers were protesting over the recent hike in fuel pump prices by the Energy Regulation Board.

One protesting taxi driver, said fuel was very expensive and RTSA and ZRA fees had also gone up which made life unbearable.He said police officers were also making the life of taxi drivers difficult by impounding them and hence they resolved to protest.Another taxi driver interviewed said the hiked RTSA and ZRA fees were promoting traffic police officers to be corrupt and taxi drivers could not to raise the fees which were being asked for.

One protesting taxi driver, said fuel was very expensive and RTSA and ZRA fees had also gone up which made life unbearable.He said police officers were also making the life of taxi drivers

He asked Government to find a way of easing the life of taxi drivers as the situation was not good for them. Mr. Ngambi, a taxi driver, explained that road tax which was at K96 was currently at K150 while the Zambia Revenue Authority (ZRA) charges had increased to K450 from the previous K300 with the road service license standing at K470 from K313.

Mr Ngambi said despite having challenges for them to make a daily cashing with the increased fuel prices, there was also a shortage of fuel in the tourist capital.He said it was unfair for the Government to keep quiet when prices for commodities and services were being increased almost at the same time,making the cost of living unbearable for most Zambians.

He said all the taxi drivers were demanding for was an immediate reduction especially on the taxes, saying it was becoming impossible for them to reach their daily cashing target there by making it difficult to provide for their families.

“We have families to take care of, now with these increased fuel prices and taxes, how are we going to cash in and what will our families eat? We have rentals to pay and school fees for our children to offset. So we are asking for the government to intervene and look into our plight,” Mr Ngambi said.

The taxi drivers blocked the main roads intothe city centre with stones and logs and threw stones at police officers.Business came to a standstill in the Livingstone Central Business District as Police officers fought running battles with protesting taxi drivers. Taxi drivers, who resolved not to carry passengers,closed the main Mosi-oa-tunya Road leading to Victoria Falls with stones as well as drums and logs while burning tyres, which prompted the police to use teargases to disperse them.Taxies and other pirated vehicles, which were spotted carrying passengers, were attacked and had their vehicles stoned.

The police continued patrolling the streets and removed the drums but stones and burnt tyres were still in the streets by mid-day while other motorists had to by-pass the town centre to access other parts of Livingstone for their safety.

Livingstone District Commissioner Omar Munsanje called for calm among taxi drivers as Government had heard their complaints.

“I have met representatives of the Livingstone Taxi Drivers Association and I asked them to calm their colleagues as we address their concerns.

Some shop owners and individual persons talked to said there was need for the Government to address the issue and see how best they could strike a balance with RTSA especially on taxes.

“We feel for the taxi drivers especially that most taxes have been increased by over 100 per cent, but the best thing they can do is to dialogue with RTSA and the government,” a concerned shop owner, who opted for anonymity, said.

Efforts to reach Southern Province Commissioner of Police Mary Chikwanda proved futile as she did not pick up her mobile phone.

Police arrest drivers rioting over the hike in fuel prices and taxes in Livingstone (15/07/15)

Zimbabwe rail network 'a death trap'

THE Railway Association of Enginemen (RAE), a union that represents National Railways of Zimbabwe (NRZ) train drivers, has warned that the country's 3 000km rail network is now a death trap. RAE said the whole rail network had become dangerous for train drivers and passengers and reporting for duty was now risky for them as derailments occurred regularly.

 The union said the government, NRZ's major shareholder, should decisively act and rehabilitate the dilapidated rail infrastructure. This comes in the wake of the derailment of a Harare-bound train that left 22 people injured, one of them seriously, on Saturday night at Heany Junction about 30km east of Bulawayo. RAE vice-president Juniel Manyere told Southern Eye yesterday that the dilapidated rail infrastructure was a stumbling block to the country's economic revival. "Our members are very much concerned about the frequency of train derailments which occur on a daily bases, but the majority remain unknown to the public," he said. "The rail network has become a death trap to us (drivers) and members of the public. The whole network is littered with speed cautions and in most routes, especially the Bulawayo-Victoria Falls one, the speed limit is just less than 40km/hour. "

This delay in movement of goods and passengers has seen people running away from doing business with us. The government should urgently intervene and rehabilitate the dilapidated infrastructure. Rail traffic is pivotal to the national economic recovery and there is no way ZimAsset will succeed with the current infrastructure."

 The ailing NRZ requires $50 million to lay a new railway line connecting Bulawayo and Victoria Falls. In the past, the parastatal blamed train accidents on vandalism of infrastructure as most of the country's electrified rail network has fallen prey to thieves who target overhead copper cables used on the railway network. The World Bank once suggested that NRZ close down nearly two-thirds of its railway network to allow for rehabilitation because of the high potential for disaster they posed. Zimbabwe's rail network, once a hub of the regional transport network, stretches for 3 077km. 

Newly-appointed NRZ board chairperson Alvord Mabena said the railway tracks were totally unreliable and it was now risky to travel by train. He said some of the infrastructure was obsolete and suggested suspension of all passenger train operations. "Running a passenger train is not profitable (and) instead is a waste of money by the parastatal," he said. "As long as the government does not subsidise NRZ, it is better to close the service." Mabhena, who was NRZ general manager during arguably the rail company's most successful period before retiring in 1998, said countries such as Botswana resorted to selling the passenger coaches to Mozambique due to profitability concerns. 

"The government must come up with a hard decision and do away with passenger trains," he said. "Botswana ended up selling its coaches to Mozambique after having experienced viability problems. The infrastructure is obsolete and it is risky to travel by train. The coaches that are in used were made and designed in South Africa in the 1990s. "I participated in the designing of these coaches hence I say they are old to be safe for use by people." Mabena warned that more accidents could not be ruled out if the government did not fund the parastatal.

 The revival of the rail infrastructure is pivotal to the country's economic turnaround programme as investors require such infrastructure for the efficient movement of goods and services. Experts recommend privatisation as the only way the NRZ can be revitalised as the government is facing a myriad of challenges all related to liquidity constraints. NRZ requires about $400 million in the short to medium term to revitalise its operations and about $10 billion in the next 10 years to reach full, safe and reliable operating capacity.

 Source: Zimbabwe rail network 'a death trap' (26/08/14)

Byo-Vic Falls rail ‘death trap’

THE 470km rail track between Bulawayo and Victoria Falls is now a death trap and needs a complete overhaul to the tune of $50 million as rampant vandalism is negatively affecting operations, parliamentarians were told on Monday. CHIEF REPORTER Members of the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Transport and Infrastructural Development who were on a familiarisation tour of the firm’s Bulawayo facilities came face to face with the mounting problems at NRZ. The country’s rail has not been replaced since it was first installed in 1897 despite outliving its 100-year lifespan. During the tour, committee members were shown huge piles of scrap metal, stripped locomotives, trolleys, wagons and coaches that have been dumped in the yard for several years. NRZ acting general manager Lewis Mukwanda told reporters on the sidelines of the tour that new tracks needed to be laid out. “Our north line, which is the Bulawayo-Victoria Fall route, needs attention,” he said. “We need to urgently lay out new tracks and that would cost in the region of $50 million. It is our focus as the route is now a death trap.” Mukwanda said the parastatal was in the process of overhauling its security system and CCTVs would be installed at all deports. “Vandalism of equipment has been high and that is affecting operations,” he said. “We need to install CCTVs in all our yards to monitor movements of people, but priority would first be the Bulawayo-Harare route and $20 million is needed for that.” Over the years, NRZ has been forced to shut down part of its railway network due to vandalism. Most of the country’s electrified railway network has fallen prey to thieves who target overhead copper cables used on the railway network. Theft and vandalism of signal equipment has in the past caused train delays, cancellations and even derailments resulting in loss of lives. In June two passenger trains derailed along the Bulawayo-Victoria Falls route. The NRZ recorded another serious rail accident in Victoria Falls when a train owned by a private company in the resort town collided with a goods train killing two tourists. It later emerged that the tourists were in Victoria Falls for the wedding of Australian millionaire Peter Holmes à Court and American photographer Alissa Everett. Source: Byo-Vic Falls rail ‘death trap’ (30/07/14)