HARARE, Zimbabwe (AP) — When Tafara Muvhevhi, a driving instructor in Zimbabwe, started work 16 years ago, his job was simple: to learn the road code and prepare students to pass their driving test.
Today, his priorities have changed. His main concern is no longer just the exam, but whether his students will survive on some of the world’s most dangerous roads. This is vital in a country where road crashes are among the top killers, according to the national statistics agency, and road death rates are among the worst on the continent. In Zimbabwe, an accident strikes every 15 minutes and five die and 38 are injured every day, according to the country’s road safety agency.
“Back then we taught by the book, everything was by the book,” said Muvhevhi as he coached his latest student through parallel parking and smooth backing into spaces marked by blue drums on a worn tarmac training ground on the outskirts of the capital, Harare.
Once known for orderly traffic and well-maintained roads, road safety in Zimbabwe has steadily deteriorated since the 2000s, degenerating into traffic chaos in the 2010s as economic decline destroyed road maintenance, informal public transport increased and law enforcement weakened. Despite renewed reparations and policing efforts, dangerous driving remains deeply entrenched.
“The other drivers are losing patience with us, they’re yelling, they’re overtaking illegally, putting pressure on the students, so our students are basically trying to adapt,” he said, before his student navigated streets where both drivers and pedestrians disregarded the rules.
For student Winfrida Chipashu, 19, an accountancy major, Harare’s roads are more intimidating than balance books.
“You can’t really compare it to accounting because (in accounting) you have all the concepts,” Chipashu said. “When you drive in the jungle, you get confused by other people who don’t follow the rules of the road.”
The roads are getting more dangerous
The southern African nation’s roads become deadliest during the festive season and other holidays, but danger lurks daily, largely caused by dangerous driving, which the government says is an alarming concern.
Zimbabwe has one of the highest road death rates in Africa, with the World Health Organization estimating almost 30 deaths per 100,000 people.
On the roads, the contradictions are strong. Minibuses bearing “safety first” signs head into pedestrian lanes and oncoming traffic. Fare collectors hang from the doors and backs of moving vehicles shouting for customers. Blocked sedans with 12 passengers, including the trunk, defy the five-seat limit.
Authorities say 94 percent of road accidents in the country of 15 million people are caused by human error. Mobile phone distractions among drivers and pedestrians cause about 10 percent of deaths, said Munesu Munodawafa, head of the Zimbabwe Road Safety Council.
“It’s scary,” Munodawafa said. “For such a small population, these numbers are alarming.”
A regional problem
The crisis in Zimbabwe reflects a wider African pattern. Road accidents here kill about 300,000 people annually, about a quarter of the global toll. The continent has the highest death rate in the world, with 26.6 deaths per 100,000 people, compared with a global average of about 18, according to the UN Economic Commission for Africa. This is despite the continent of 1.5 billion people accounting for only about 3% of the global vehicle population.
Road traffic deaths in Africa are also growing faster than any other region, with deaths increasing by 17% between 2010 and 2021, according to the World Health Organization’s latest report on road safety in Africa, published in mid-2024.
The WHO links the rise, in part, to poor road safety laws and enforcement, reckless driving and rapid urbanization and motorization. Vehicle registrations in Africa nearly tripled between 2013 and 2021, driven by imported used vehicles and a surge in motorcycles and three-wheelers. Pedestrians, cyclists and two- and three-wheeled riders account for about half of all deaths, according to the UN agency.
In Uganda, where unregulated motorbikes dominate transport, reckless overtaking and speeding caused 44.5% of accidents in 2024, police there say, while in neighboring Kenya and East Africa, frequent accidents on bad roads and dangerous fuel to drive have called for stricter road safety rules.
Searching for solutions
To increase road safety, Zimbabwe police recently purchased body cameras and breathalyzers and are pushing for an overhaul of the driver’s licensing system, including offender docking points and a revamp of driver training programs to highlight the dangers of reckless driving.
“Drivers are not licensed to be killers, they are licensed to practice road safety and protect lives on the road but unfortunately that is not the case,” said police spokesperson Paul Nyathi.
For instructors like Muvhevhi, survival became the lesson.
“When we teach our students, it’s no longer an issue of getting a driver’s license,” he said. “We teach them to stay alive despite the incorrect actions of other road users.”
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