Travelling in Zimbabwe - Traffic Police Warning...

[Bubby]

Today I traveled 56km in Harare and went through 12 road blocks.

Be prepared to be pulled over....the police need money to survive.

Traffic fines are dished out for all & sundry (marie biscuit spare tyres, non-regulatory fire extinguishers, non-reflective Triangles etc etc.)

On another note, this is the bank queue at 8am.
Don't expect to draw cash at ATM's. All banks have daily withdraw limits ranging from $50 and up but some banks have simply run out of cash.

[OOOOMS]

Correct yes! Mugabe has openly told police to generate their own income 

Sad!

[ArcturushondaXRT]

Correct yes! Mugabe has openly told police to generate their own income 

Sad!

Yip and i challenged a cop about this the other day, he gave me a fine for my number plate light not working, i handed the $20 over and said "there you go, money towards your wages"... He says, this is for the state, I laughed and said, no its for your wages.. He shook his head and walked off.... A friend of mine was told by some cops at a road block that the police have been told to bring in $2k every day from each road block as there is no money to pay their wages.. That said, I came back from Louis Trichart to Harare this past Sunday and had no problems at all, even towing a trailer..

[shanti]

What are the ' requirements ' you should have with you on your bike to avoid fines ? reflective vests ?

[ArcturushondaXRT]

Who knows..... The "law" changes every time you leave your house.. I heard a guy got fined the other day because he didnt have a fire extinguisher strapped to his bike. Will check on the basics and post.

[speed]

Looks to me that it is no more traffic stops but toll booth.You stop straight away hand over 20$ and go on with your journey.Wil safe you a lot of time and hassle!!

[ArcturushondaXRT]

Some call it "Sunshine Tax"...

[gomgat]

Well I just came through and was stopped and  fined 4 times , but told them I have no actual cash , so let me go on my merry way. Every 20km. they have a police block , the tolls are free for bikes.

[Fudmucker]

It is all the fault of the West...!

The fact that Robber Mugabe told his Chinese supporters of last resort to go to hell has nothing to do with it at all.

[0012]

Well I just came through and was stopped and  fined 4 times , but told them I have no actual cash , so let me go on my merry way. Every 20km. they have a police block , the tolls are free for bikes.

Man alive!

For interest, what sort of things were they fining you for on the bike?

[Gbags]

I'm going in tomorrow from Beikbridge to Bulawayo.
I'll tell you how I get on.
Fingers crossed.

[Gbags]

Hi Gang,
OK, we got through Beit Bridge. Everyone told us it would be horrific, bags of corruption, road blocks, burnt down buildings, riots and cops taking us for money at every turn.
This is how it went.
We slid out of SA like shit through a goose.
The Zim border is a proper African border with lots of pieces of paper, stamps etc but we got there at 0800 on a mid week day and were out by 1100. People around us in the
I enjoy were friendly and helpful and so were the Zim border officials.
We just smiled at everyone and got through quite easily. It cost us $US 55 each for the visas  plus small  change for sundries.
We rode about four hours to Bulawayo (stayed at a great place called Limerick Cottage).
There must have been twenty or thirty road blocks and NONE of them asked for anything. Most waved us through, one or two asked after the bike and our trip.
Bulawayo to Vic Falls was the same, except one road block out of twenty or so asked for our license.
Again, bags of smiles and How are you's at every road block got us through.
Lastly, even the tolls were cool. Bikes pay nothing, they just take your registration and smile you through.
We didn't once pay one person one penny!
This was this week, mid August, 2016.

[Kykdaar]

You must have one hell of a friendly smile

[Amsterdam]

We went through June/July in the car.  Plenty of stops but mostly friendly and professional and not hassling you.  I did get one spurious fine though for not having a tarpaulin for the camping chairs on the roof rack.  I guess the fellow must have been quite proud of thinking this one up as the fine writer could not spell it.  He asked his boss, "how do I spell this"?  And the boss shouted back: "T A paulin".

Also got a speeding fine but can't deny I was doing 67 in a 60 zone.  They wanted $20, I offered $10 and we settled on $15.  Proper receipts in both cases.  Don't let the stories stop you from visiting Zimbabwe, just bring money as it is quite an expensive place.

[speed]

Good to hear.love Zimbabwe.One of my favorite places I visited.Would love to go back.

[RobC]

Good to hear.love Zimbabwe.One of my favorite places I visited.Would love to go back.

Not until Bob is dead and buried... seriously, tourism supports the regime.

[BlueBull2007]

Rob, not really. A lot of people like you and me suffering in Zim right now because people dont visit-

I have been traveling very extensively in Zim over the last 5 weeks. Not a single bribe. We were stopped a few times but if you are firm and polite and have all your paperwork in order, car with working lights etc. you have nothing to fear.

[RobC]

Rob, not really. A lot of people like you and me suffering in Zim right now because people dont visit-

I have been traveling very extensively in Zim over the last 5 weeks. Not a single bribe. We were stopped a few times but if you are firm and polite and have all your paperwork in order, car with working lights etc. you have nothing to fear.

Then the the cops are changing attitude, we had a horrific journey a year or two ago. Roadblocks almost every 20k.