CORRUPTION has allegedly become so rampant at Vehicle Inspection Department (VID) test centres countrywide as driver’s licences are now said to be issued at specific prices and not on the basis of driving competences of applicants. 
VID depots have, of late, been described as flea markets rather than licensing depots as most people turn up to buy licences.
Bribes have become part of the driving curriculum.
So well-oiled is the system that would-be drivers have to pay the instructors at their driving schools who, in turn, pass the bribes to syndicates at VID depots.
Allegations are that the learner drivers who will not pay the ‘pass money’ will be failed on technicalities by the examiners.
And the bribes have levels.
Information gathered by The Patriot revealed that for one to get a driver’s licence he/she has to pay at least US$150. This is for someone who is at least ‘competent’, depending on the class one requires.
For VIPs, those who would want to be assisted in the VID premises and on the road, one pays at least US$250.
These are basically assisted in everything.
And to attain the minimum of 88 percent required to pass a provisional driver’s licence, one has to pay US$80.
For those who may not be present in the country or at the depot, they fork out US$120.
VID inspectors also ‘ask’ for amounts varying between US$50 and US$100 to issue certificates of fitness for commuter omnibuses and haulage trucks, respectively.
Figures obtained from VID show that about 65 percent of people who sit for learner’s licence tests fail, while over 72 percent fail road tests to get driver’s licences amid claims that officials at the VID deliberately fail people to induce bribes.
Since 1980, pass rates at VID have ranged between 21 to 28 percent.
This week, Minister of Transport and Infrastructure Development Dr Jorum Gumbo gave vehicle inspectors a 100-day ultimatum to stop corrupt activities or risk prosecution.
Speaking at a meeting of vehicle inspectors driving school instructors in Harare on Wednesday, Dr Gumbo vowed to fire those VID officials and blacklist driving schools undermining the integrity of the drivers’ licence.
“I was shocked to hear that some officials are so cunning that they test learners and tell them in the face that without bribing they cannot pass,” said Minister Gumbo.
“That practice should stop forthwith.
“Any VID official who thinks that corruption is part and parcel of their DNA must resign with immediate effect.”
The Minister said he had names and heads will roll.
“It is alleged that corrupt instructors mention the bribe to a learner driver, collect it and pass it on to an equally corrupt VID driving examiner.
“They obviously share the loot. I would like to warn all driving school owners and their staff that all allegations of corruption will be fully investigated and the long arm of the law will catch up with them.
“Where it is established that the School is also involved, we shall ensure that it is closed forever. Such proprietors will never be allowed back into the driving schools industry.”
The skewed system, he said, ensures that ‘potentially good drivers who cannot afford bribes, are not issued with licences while incompetent and half-baked corrupt applicants easily get licences’.
He said there was no more room for such in Government employment and in his Ministry.
“Within the context of the 100-day action programme, I would like to see tangible action being taken on errant officers by the director responsible for VID and his depot managers,” said Dr Gumbo.
“Keeping such people in our driver education cycle is unacceptable as they are a danger to society and even to themselves.”
He said the rot was threatening the country’s driver’s licence status in the region and internationally.
“Zimbabwe’s driver’s licence is an internationally recognised document,” Dr Gumbo said.
“We are the signatory to the 1968 UN Convention and that is why one can obtain an International Driving Permit upon production of our driver’s licence.
“Such a permit allows you to drive in other states that are signatories to the same.”
In 2009 about 32 vehicle inspectors were fired at 13 VID depots namely; Eastlea and Belvedere in Harare, Chitungwiza, Gweru, Mutare, Chiredzi, Bindura, Kadoma, Victoria Falls, Zvishavane, Nyamapanda, Chinhoyi and Marondera for issuing certificates of competency to undeserving learners.
In 2010, Government cancelled 199 driver’s licences issued by the Chiredzi VID depot between January and June 2009 as part of measures to stamp out corruption.
It was discovered that people were actually being issued leaners licenses at 8am in the morning and a certificate of competency (driver’s licence) would be issued at 10am the same day.
The depot was actually shut down after the rot was exposed.
In July 2002 alone, six vehicle inspectors based at the Masvingo depot faced corruption charges for issuing more than 500 drivers licences in return for cash payments.
VID director Johannes John Pedzapasi said in an effort to curb corruption, 80 percent of the test is now being done inside the VID premises and only 20 percent of the test is on the road.
He said this is deterring corrupt examiners.
He advised learners to take down numbers which are displayed at billboards at every centre to call and report such cases.
The corrupt activities have resulted in high levels of fatal accidents and loss of human capital, mostly due to human error and this has compromised the Zimbabwean document internationally.
According to the Traffic Safety Council of Zimbabwe (TSCZ), human error causes over 94 percent of all road traffic crashes, which have claimed lives on the country’s major roads.
Human error encompasses speeding, inattention or misjudgement, negligent pedestrians and negligent passengers.
According to a research by the TSCZ entitled, ‘Critical analysis of the road traffic crashes in Zimbabwe — A reflection of the 2016 Road Traffic Crashes Collision Statistics’, about five people are killed on the country’s roads everyday while approximately 38 people are also injured. 
“The paper can reveal that human error contributed more than 94 percent of all the recorded road traffic crashes for the year 2016.
The highest percentage of these crashes occurred on the recently rehabilitated Harare-Plumtree Highway.”
In 2016, a total of 1 700 people were killed while 11 392 others were injured in 38 606 accidents recorded.
The previous year, 41 494 accidents were recorded, which resulted in 1 762 people killed while 12 822 others were injured.