The deputy minister of Home Affairs, Ruth Mavhungu-Maboyi, has told Parliament that motorists must always pay spot fines at roadblocks or borrow from friends if they have no money.
She said for that reason, it is called a spot fine, because it has to be paid at that particular place where the offence would have happened.
She urged motorists to always carry cash in any form so that they can pay spot fines if needed.
Maboyi said letting loose drivers without paying the spot fines would encourage other motorists to avoid paying as well, as they would say they don’t have any money.
Meanwhile, cases of corruption at roadblocks are common in Zimbabwe.
Responding to questions in the National Assembly recently, the deputy minister said:
“The Honourable Member is saying that is he not allowed, but the point is that you would have committed an offence. Without an offence, you are not required to pay but if you commit an offence, you have to pay.
‘’If you do not have money, you need to communicate with the police at the roadblock. You cannot run away with that money. We need that money.
‘’I understand the plight. We have little money, but police officers do not have swipe machines. This is one thing that we are going to consider, and they also do not have ecocash because I think it will be so difficult for them.
‘’We understand there is no money but because people are committing crimes, we need to fine them. When we speak about the swipe machines, we will try to discuss as a Ministry but there will be a lot of these machines because the country is so big.
‘’We are appealing to the public to drive and at the same time having cash so that they can pay spot fines if they commit offences,’’ she said.
