Zimbabwean motorists and professional drivers have received relief after the Central Vehicle Registry rejected calls for applicants for professional driving licences to hold five O-Level passes, including English and Mathematics.
Acting CVR registrar Saston Muzenda told the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Transport that the country had already professionalised its driver-licensing system through testing and regulation. He said the Government was now concentrating on stronger enforcement, including a penalty-points system and a smart traffic management network that will use cameras to identify traffic offences.
Muzenda was responding to a petition brought by Drivers’ Association of Zimbabwe president Nicholas Mabwe. The association wants driving to be recognised as a fully regulated profession and has called for a statutory professional body to oversee entry standards, training and accountability.
One of its central demands is that anyone seeking a professional driving licence should have at least five O-Level passes, with English and Mathematics among the subjects. The proposal would affect drivers who carry passengers, operate buses and coaches, drive goods vehicles or earn a living behind the wheel.
For now, the requirement has not been adopted. Existing drivers do not have to return to school, obtain additional certificates or replace their licences because of the petition. The matter has been referred to the Portfolio Committee on Transport and Infrastructural Development for consideration.
Muzenda said Zimbabwe’s current licensing process was already rigorous and recognised beyond the country’s borders.
“The process our drivers go through is internationally recognised and is one of the best in terms of practice,” he said. “From a professional point of view, we have already professionalised our drivers within the region. And professional drivers who drive for a living have more laws to obey than a private motorist.”
He said Zimbabwe had complied with the Transport and Transit Facilitation Programme, which seeks to harmonise transport policies, laws and standards across SADC, COMESA and the East African Community. The country has also adopted legal instruments intended to support a driver trade-free area, allowing Zimbabwean drivers to be recognised across the region.
The CVR’s position gives a clear answer to drivers who feared that the proposed academic threshold could become an immediate barrier to employment. It also shifts the focus of the debate from school certificates to the effectiveness of testing, monitoring and punishment after a driver has been licensed.
Mabwe’s petition was read in the National Assembly by Speaker of Parliament Advocate Jacob Mudenda on 20 August. It asks Parliament to create a formal professional framework for drivers and a legally recognised body that can set minimum standards and regulate the occupation.
Supporters of the petition say professional drivers carry a special responsibility because they transport thousands of passengers every day. They argue that a driver must be able to read road signs, understand written instructions, complete journey records, communicate with officials and calculate distances, fuel requirements, fares and loads. English and Mathematics are being presented as practical skills connected to everyday driving rather than as academic qualifications for their own sake.
The proposal has also been linked to concerns about the conduct of some public transport drivers. Zimbabwe’s roads continue to see crashes involving speeding, dangerous overtaking, overloaded vehicles, unroadworthy vehicles and other forms of reckless driving. A professional body could maintain a register, support continuing training and distinguish between an ordinary licence to drive a light vehicle and the additional responsibilities involved in carrying passengers or operating a heavy commercial vehicle.
Under the proposed system, motorists would accumulate points for offences. Once a driver reached a prescribed threshold, the licence could be suspended or cancelled. The Government has not yet announced the final threshold, the number of points attached to each offence or the period for which points would remain active.
“It is true that as the Ministry of Transport, we are conducting investigations into the law to come up with measures to address the issue of demerits for drivers so that in the end, should you reach a certain number of points, your licence will become null and void,” Mhona said.
The minister said the system was needed because some motorists continued driving after repeatedly putting other road users at risk.
“It is quite sad that we still have drivers who are causing a lot of accidents, but they continue to drive,” he said.
Courts already have the power to cancel a licence in serious cases. Mhona said the proposed system would add a continuing record of offences, making it possible to deal with repeat offenders before their behaviour results in a fatal crash.
“At the moment, our courts can cancel your licence if they see that you are a reckless driver and you could have caused the death of people on the road,” he told legislators.
He said the Bill would be brought to Parliament after consultations with interested parties and public hearings involving motorists, transport operators, road-safety organisations and other stakeholders.
“It is a law that we want to put in place, and we will be coming back to this august House to come up with this particular act,” Mhona said.
He added: “As we have been urged by His Excellency the President, that is to ensure that all those that are involved in the transport sector should put their hands together so that we can come up with stronger legislation that will curb the carnage that is occurring on the road.”
The proposed penalty system is expected to work with the new smart traffic management system. Cameras will detect offences such as speeding, running red lights, illegal turns and dangerous parking. Once an offence is identified and confirmed, details can be linked to the vehicle and the driver through a central database.
Harare Mayor Jacob Mafume has said motorists could receive fines on their mobile phones once the database is fully operational. The city also plans to share information with the CVR and has discussed requiring motorists to clear outstanding fines before renewing vehicle licences.
The latest crash on the Harare–Chirundu Road has added urgency to the discussion. Four people died and 14 were injured in a head-on collision at about 8.45pm on 7 September at the 101-kilometre peg. A Mercedes-Benz Sprinter carrying 21 passengers collided with a Toyota Probox carrying five people. The injured passengers were taken to Chinhoyi Provincial Hospital, while the bodies of those who died were taken to the hospital mortuary.
The Zimbabwe Republic Police said: “The ZRP confirms a fatal road traffic accident which occurred on 07/09/26 at around 2045 hours at the 101 kilometre peg along Harare-Chirundu Road.”
The police added: “Four people were killed while 14 others were injured when a Mercedes-Benz Sprinter carrying 21 passengers was involved in a head-on collision with a Toyota Probox vehicle with five passengers on board.”
The crash followed other fatal collisions involving buses, minibuses, trucks and private vehicles on the country’s major highways. The continuing deaths have placed pressure on authorities to improve driver behaviour, vehicle inspections, road conditions, emergency response and the accuracy of road-crash records.
A United Nations road-safety review previously recorded an average of about 2,000 road deaths a year in Zimbabwe between 2017 and 2019, while warning that the actual figure could be much higher when deaths occurring in hospitals or after discharge were included. The review also found that much of the road network was in poor or mediocre condition and called for better enforcement, improved data systems, stronger vehicle inspections and safer infrastructure.
Those findings underline why the professional-driver debate is moving on several fronts at once. The five O-Level proposal would raise the educational entry standard. The penalty-points Bill would target motorists who repeatedly break traffic rules. The camera network would make it easier to identify offences, while the CVR’s existing testing system would remain the main gateway to a licence.
Muzenda said the Government was also working to make the learner’s licence test more accessible. The aim is to improve the licensing process without declaring that a school certificate is the only measure of a driver’s ability.
The parliamentary committee must now consider whether the proposed qualifications should become law and how a professional body would operate. It will also have to examine the effect on drivers who entered the industry without five O-Level passes, as well as the needs of transport operators that rely on experienced drivers.
For motorists, the immediate message from the CVR is straightforward: the five-subject academic requirement is not a current condition for holding a professional driving licence. The Government’s stronger and more immediate direction is toward automated detection, cumulative penalties and the removal of habitual offenders from the roads.
As Parliament considers the petition and the proposed demerit legislation, professional drivers are likely to face greater scrutiny of their conduct, training and records. The licensing system may not demand five O-Level passes, but the road ahead is set to bring tougher checks for anyone whose driving puts passengers and other road users at risk.