A 38-YEAR-OLD commuter omnibus driver from Mkoba high density suburb in Gweru landed himself in hot soup for allegedly ridiculing a police officer saying he could not afford to pay the R5 fare as cops earned meagre salaries. STEPHEN CHADENGA OWN CORRESPONDENT
Masimba Shoniwa of Mkoba 5 also allegedly went on to mock all cops saying they were used and yet could not afford to pay transport fares. This was revealed when Shoniwa appeared before Gweru magistrate Sithembiso Ncube facing a charge of undermining police authority. He was remanded out of custody to tomorrow for continuation of trial.
The State alleged that on August 23 2013 the complainant, Daniel Laini, a cop based at Senga, boarded a kombi at the Wimpy rank in town.
Shoniwa asked Laini if he had the R5 for the trip to Senga and he answered in the affirmative.
The State said Shoniwa went on to shout at Laini saying cops had a tendency of not paying commuter fares.
He allegedly went on to say cops worked day and night, but could not pay fares since they were used, but earning little salaries that could not sustain them.
Laini urged Shoniwa to desist from his disparaging behaviour, but the latter allegedly shouted at him saying he was too junior and could not arrest him.
Laini with the help of passengers, however, forced Shoniwa to stop his kombi at Senga Police Station where a report was made, leading to his arrest.
