Missing car keys and US$100 demand: Chaos in Harare CBD as inDrive driver clashes with prostitute at 4am

HARARE – Under the flickering orange glow of the streetlights on Nelson Mandela Avenue, the air is often thick with the scent of cheap perfume and exhaust fumes. It is 4:00 am, the hour when the capital city’s night owls and early birds collide in a desperate dance for survival. For one inDrive driver, this intersection of hospitality and hazard recently turned into a costly nightmare, highlighting a growing trend of opportunistic crime in the heart of Zimbabwe’s largest city.

The driver, who requested anonymity to protect his livelihood in the precarious ride-hailing industry, found himself at the centre of a heated public standoff early Tuesday morning. What began as a simple act of offering shelter to a woman in the early hours ended with a missing ignition key, a US$100 ransom demand, and a crowd of onlookers debating the blurred lines of friendship and exploitation in Harare’s CBD.

The Standoff on Nelson Mandela Avenue

The silence of the pre-dawn hours was shattered when the driver realised his vehicle was immobilised. Sitting in the passenger seat was Miriam Mahove, a woman dressed in a revealing outfit that left little doubt about her trade. The driver claims he had merely allowed her to sit in the cab while he waited for clients, only to fall asleep. When he woke, his car keys and a sum of money were gone.

“I was waiting for clients when this lady approached my vehicle around 4 am,” the driver told reporters. “I eventually fell asleep while she sat on the passenger seat. When I woke up, I realised my car keys were missing and she denied taking them.”

The situation quickly escalated into a public spectacle. As the sun began to rise, a sizeable number of people gathered, some coming from nearby nightclubs, others on their way to early shifts. The driver alleged that Mahove was holding his keys hostage, demanding a staggering US$100 for their return—a sum that represents several days of gruelling work for a ride-hailing driver in the current economic climate.

Conflicting Narratives

Miriam Mahove, however, painted a vastly different picture of the night’s events. Standing her ground amidst the accusations, she insisted that the relationship was one of mutual acquaintance rather than a commercial transaction.

“I was with him during the night, he is my friend,” she told reporters at the scene. “When we were about to leave for my house in Belvedere, he claimed to have misplaced his car keys. We never had sexual intercourse, contrary to what some people are saying.”

The driver was equally adamant about the nature of their encounter. “For the record, I did not hire her for sex, as some people were suggesting,” he stated. “She was the only one in my vehicle, yet she refused to return the keys and demanded money instead. When other people started questioning her, she again denied taking the keys.”

The standoff eventually forced the driver to seek the services of a professional locksmith. In a city where every dollar is fought for, the US$30 fee for a replacement set of keys was a significant blow, added to the money he claimed was stolen from his dashboard.

A Hotspot for Late-Night Predation

This incident is far from an isolated occurrence. Nelson Mandela Avenue, particularly the stretch between Chinhoyi Street and Mbuya Nehanda Street, has increasingly become a “red-light” zone where the boundaries of the law are frequently tested. Recent reports suggest that shops by day are being converted into makeshift brothels by night, with sex workers flocking to the downtown area to target drunk patrons leaving nightclubs.

Local residents and regular commuters have grown increasingly concerned about the rising tide of petty crime and extortion in the area. Some members of the public at the scene openly accused Mahove of targeting vulnerable, often intoxicated men.

“She targets drunk men who drink at a nearby nightclub,” one witness remarked, echoing a sentiment shared by many who frequent the CBD after dark. This pattern of behaviour is consistent with several recent incidents in Harare. Only last year, four women were brought before the courts after they allegedly stabbed and robbed a motorist who had stopped near their “hunting spot” due to mechanical problems. In another case, two sex workers were charged with robbing a client of US$190 and two mobile phones—a heist that mirrors the alleged extortion attempt on Nelson Mandela Avenue.

The inDrive Dilemma: Safety in the Gig Economy

The plight of the anonymous driver also sheds light on the systemic safety issues within Zimbabwe’s ride-hailing sector. Platforms like inDrive have become a lifeline for thousands of Zimbabweans looking to make ends meet, yet the lack of stringent vetting processes has created a “Wild West” environment for both drivers and passengers.

Unlike traditional taxi services, inDrive allows for a degree of anonymity and flexibility that can be easily exploited. On social media forums, Zimbabwean drivers frequently share warnings about “hot zones” and suspicious clients, yet the pressure to earn enough to cover fuel and vehicle maintenance often pushes them to take risks they might otherwise avoid.

“It’s clear inDrive is not safe for both drivers and passengers,” one commentator noted on a popular local Facebook group. “Anyone can register their car… and there is no real protection when things go wrong in the middle of the night.”

For the driver on Nelson Mandela Avenue, the risk was personal. By allowing a stranger into his vehicle without a formal booking, he stepped outside the thin veil of protection offered by the app, leaving him vulnerable to the very extortion he now claims to have suffered.

The Legal and Social Quagmire

The incident also highlights the complex legal landscape of sex work in Zimbabwe. Since a landmark Constitutional Court ruling in 2015, which prohibited the arrest of women on charges of “soliciting” without evidence of a client, the presence of sex workers on the streets of Harare has become more visible. While the ruling was intended to protect women from police harassment, it has also created a space where the informal economy and the criminal underworld frequently overlap.

For the men who find themselves in these situations—whether as clients or, as in this case, “friends” offering shelter—there is often a reluctance to involve the police. The social stigma associated with being seen with a sex worker, combined with the potential for being accused of soliciting, often leads victims to settle matters privately, as the driver did by hiring a locksmith rather than pressing formal charges.

A City on the Edge

As Harare continues to grapple with economic instability, the desperation in the streets is palpable. The struggle for the United States dollar—the preferred currency for everything from fuel to bread—has driven both drivers and sex workers to the edges of the law.

The story of the inDrive driver and Miriam Mahove is a microcosm of a city where kindness can be a liability and the night is full of shadows. While the driver counts his losses—US$30 for a locksmith and an undisclosed amount of stolen cash—the broader community is left to wonder when the next standoff will occur.

In the end, the locksmith packed his tools, the crowd dispersed to their morning routines, and Miriam Mahove disappeared back into the labyrinth of the CBD. For the driver, it was an expensive lesson in the geography of trust. On the streets of Harare, where the sun rises on a million different struggles, sometimes the highest price you pay is for simply opening your door.

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