Times Of Swaziland: POLICE HARASSING US – ‘BOMALUME’

POLICE HARASSING US – ‘BOMALUME’
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BY PHIWASE PHUNGWAYO on 06/03/2019 03:50:00


MBABANE – ‘Bomalume’ are livid over being allegedly ‘stopped’ by
police from operating without permits.
Bomalume is a term used to describe public transport operators who ferry
school-going children in public transport. They usually drive in private cars
such as Honda Fits and Noah vehicles.
This follows that police have stopped 19 operators who do not have permits that
allow them to ferry pupils. According to some of them, this was due to the fact
that their cars were small and were import vehicles, which are often called
Dubais.
One of the kombi operators, who spoke on condition of anonymity, expressed
concern that the police were overcharging them for not having permits.
“Police stop us on the roads when they find us ferrying pupils and issue
summons to the value of E500 or E1 000. They tell us that our cars are not
permitted to operate because we do not have the right documents,” he said in
an interview.
The public transport operator further alleged that police were harassing them by
issuing them these summons as they knew that it would cost them their business
which could close down.
He stated that they did not know what needed to be done because they had
explained to them (police) numerously that their case was being dealt with in
the Ministry of Public Works and Transport but they continue to harass them.
Impossible
When questioned on why they did not have the necessary papers to operate, the
public transport operator said this was because it was almost impossible to get
the papers as the process often took long.
The operator mentioned that they were informed by certain officials as well from
the ministry that their cars were small to transport children.
In addition, he said they were often told that government was still in talks
about their proposal. He said the ministry was slow in permitting them to
operate on the roads. The public transport operator said they were pinning their
hopes on Members of Parliament (MPs) to collaborate with them in fighting to
officially get the permits.