National Union of Transport Workers of Zimbabwe

National Union of Transport Workers of Zimbabwe Membership based organisation advancing workers rights in the transport industry.

28/02/2026

28 February 2026
Industrial Bullentine

An important milestone has been passed in the licensing and certification of professional drivers.

Drivers employed in commerce and industry are referred to as professional drivers.

Professional drivers no longer to have passed a compulsory retest to drive commercial vehicles ( public service vehicles) in order to be employed as a driver. Minister of Transport and Infrastructural Development announcement as far back as 15 June 2023. This was in line with the SADC and COMESA standard for commercial vehicles. However, the traffic authorities continued to insist on the retest requirement thereby creating a great deal of confusion and anger among the drivers.

The union together with other stakeholders engaged the Minister on this matter. In response, the minister simply explained the coreect position thus the retest came to an end.

We now have to address the issue of wage earnings per each hour worked. The total number of hours per hour that are paid direct wage rates per hour will have to agreed between the employers and employees. Associated with the issue of wage rates is the total prohibition of incentive wages as alternative or substitute to wages. Remuneration that is linked to revenues generated or kms travelled are the major drivers to the horrendous road accidents in Zimbabwe.

Regards

President

Whelson Transport is offering incentive remuneration based on kms travelled by a drivers. There is no mention of the man...
05/08/2025

Whelson Transport is offering incentive remuneration based on kms travelled by a drivers. There is no mention of the mandatory maximum driving hours or rest periods as provided in the law. National Employment Council also has negotiated and agreed to remove road safety out of the law. Honourable Minister Felix Mona must take note and take action.

06/05/2025

23 April 2023
Attention Honourable Felix Mhona MP
Honourable Minister
Minister Of Transport and Infrastructure Development
Kaguvi Building
Harare

Re: Retesting Of Professional Drivers

The above matter refers.

As you may be aware, your ministry invited transport unions several years previously to make oral submissions regarding the emotive of retesting of professional drivers. The meeting was held in the boardroom at Kaguvi and was chaired or facilitated by the late Hon. J B Matiza., the late Minister Of Transport. May his soul rest in peace.

Since then, your minstry introduced through legislation significant changes capturing submissions by stakeholders, developments in training and certificateion of professional drivers as required by both SADC and COMESA. These changes were introduced and declared by the state through the promulgation of SI 119 of 2023 which replaced all previous laws on this subject.. As citizens, our members as well as the generality of drivers who are holders of the professional drivers permit (pdp) reasonably expected that the aforesaid SI 119 of 2023 to be exclusive legislation which they are expected or required to comply with.

On the contrary, holders of the permit issued in terms of SI 119 of 2023 are currently being required to undergo the defunct retest failing which they are fined.

We therefore respectfully request you as the principal of this ministry to direct that all departments should must or should compy and enforce SI 119 of 2023 exclusively henceforth.

Should you require any additional information as regards this letter, please do not hesitate to contact the undersigned on line number+263
777467481 or Mr Percy Shawatu on +263773252187.

Noah R Gwande
NUTWZ

05/03/2022

ZIM'S TRANSPORT AMD AND FUEL SECTOR NEED AN URGENT ALL STAKEHOLDERS CONFERENCE

Its sad how truck drivers and fuel attendants are being subjected to constant and unending disciplinary hearings by their employers facing allegations ranging from theft to conduct inconsistent with express or implied conditions of employment and other related offence for shortages which under the circumstances should never be wholly attributed to the employees. It's also saddening to note that in the process the employers also continue to incur huge losses as a result of these losses. What is even more sadenning is the fact that individual companies and employees continue to view this problem as individual or isolated incidents which they think one day will just go away. The reality on the ground is that the procurement and delivery of fuel from outside our borders into the various fuel filling stations has become a very complex exercise. Drivers find themselves having to deal with complex documentation and procedures which an ordinary person with a class 2 drivers license and 5 O levels can not and must not be expected to understand execute without problems. Firstly there is the issue of loading and offloading of fuel. Measurement standards now involve the combination of what are known as ullage bars, dipsticks, metre readings and site dipsticks. In some instances only one of the above is used. In some instances a combination of any two of the above is used. In some instances some of the equipment is not reliable and can lead to incorrect measurement of the product. In the region, countries such as the DRC and Zambia have different systems from Zimbabwe Mozambique and South Africa, and our cross border drivers often find themselves confronted with a situation where the use of different procedures often leads to variances in the quantities resulting in the drivers being held responsible and then dragged to disciplinary hearings where they are always found guilty and dismissed. There is also the issue of temperature induced losses especially in the case of petrol and the calculations needed to take into account the permissible losses are very complex since temperature is not static and varies from country to country and at times the weather can change very abruptly even in the same town. To simply the gist of this article it is easy to conclude that transport companies and their clients, under the current circumstances, can never really know for sure the extent of their losses because of the above mentioned variables which in some instances lead to both negative and positive variances. It is now time for an all stakeholder conference to find out the facts of what is happening on the ground. Trade unions, employer organisations, government and players in the fuel industry need to come together to find a lasting solution. The need for experts to also attend and assist can not be overemphasised. This madness cannot be allowed to continue as workers continue to lose their means of production not because of their own actions but due to the complex nature of the work they are required to do. I will never run away from the fact that there are some bad apples in the basket who drain and steal for personal gain the product they carry but at the end of the day innocent workers should never suffer for the actions of others. That is the point. That is why there is a need for such conference and it should also be used to protect the companies involved so that they do not continue to suffer such huge losses. For more information WhatsApp 0776203888/0781639931. Email r. t. [email protected]

09/11/2021

PRESS STATEMENT
This press statement is being issued in response to the Wage Notice circulated by the National Employment Council For The Transport Operating Industry (NECTOI).
We, the National Union Of Transport Workers Of Zimbabwe ( NUTWZ), wishes to restate our position regarding collective bargaining agreements negotiated by non inclusive voluntary employment councils including NECTOI. For the sake of the clarity and perhaps uninitiated, a voluntary employment council is a body which is formed by trade unions(s) and employers’ association (s) for the purpose of negotiating employment conditions in a defined sector or undertaking. The term refers to the governing body of employment council and not the designated agents who are appointed and remunerated by the state from levies imposed on employers and employees in the defined sector.
Contrary to the misleading impression created by the said Wage Notice, may all employers and employees in the transport sector take notice that the said Wage Notice is binding only to members of parties to the employment council namely, Transport Any General Workers Union and Transport Operators Association members unless and until their agreement is approved by the Minister Of Public Service,Labour And Social Welfare. The last approved and gazetted and therefore binding on all employers and employees collective bargaining agreement is Statutory Instrument 26 of 2017.
NUTWZ unreservedly rejects and indeed denounces both the so called collective bargaining agreement and the processes which delivered this agreement for following reasons:
Ø The agreement is a mischievous attempt to endorse the unfair, unjust and indeed inequitable decision by transport employers whereby they refused to maintain parity between the USD minimum wage rate stipulated in SI 26 of 2017 as well as subsequent ratifications with the ZWL as directed by SI 33 of 2019. When the state government ordered or directed parity between USD and ZWL at 1:1, the employers complied but when the state government allowed the managed exchange rate to fluctuate, employers complied with respect to other prices of inputs to production except unit price of labour hours. Instead, assisted by the employment council, they invented a different and lower exchange rate for the labour hour being the unit which is bought by employers and utilized in the production process.
Ø NUTWZ wishes to state clearly that the decision to cut wages was made by employers and not government as is frequently asserted by most employers in the transport sector. Certainly, government had and still has no business in directing unit prices of inputs to production.
Ø Alternatively, instead of maintaining or retaining USD/ZWL wage parity, the NEC could have maintained the real value of the February 2019 wage rates by way of CPI. In other words, employees should be able to buy the same quantity and quality of goods and services as at February 2019. The Labour Act Chapter 28:01 Section 74 makes it mandatory for cost of living to be factored in during collective bargaining.
Ø NUTWZ position is that parity between the USD vs ZWL wage rates should have continued to be managed through the managed exchange rates and subsequently the auction rate or alternatively, employers should have maintained the real value of wages as opposed to the nominal value by recomputing February 2019 wage levels using CPI tables.
Ø The Wage Notice misleads the nation when its states “wage/salaries in the existing CBA minimum rates” when its common cause that the same employment council have assisted employers to reduce wages from an average USD 354.00/ ZWL37524.00 down to an average of USD 202.00/ZWD21467.00 . Simple arithmetics demonstrate that there is no increment in this notice.
Ø While NUTWZ respects voluntarism, it abhores the attempt to impose a clearly anomalous agreement entered into between voluntary parties on the unrepresented and indeed deliberately excluded workers. Anomalous because the right to collective bargaining is a constitutional right in term of Constitution Of Zimbabwe Amendment No 20 Section 65 and also ILO Core Conventions no 87 and 98. Clearly, the processes that yielded the so called agreement is against public policy and therefore voidable and possibly void altogether.
Ø It is in this context therefore that we urge the Minister Of Public Service, Labour And Social Welfare to resist attempts to impose agreements by unrepresentative employment councils on unrepresented workers. In view of the legal technicalities around the subject of voluntary employment councils, the Minister should at least seek the input of trade unions which his Registrar has recognized through registration. NECTOI being a voluntary institution can negotiate their private agreement and cimmunicate it to their members for compliance. For instance, the Registrar registered an employment code of conduct which has clearly anomalous provisions such as expressly excluding all other unions registered by the same Registrar from its definition.
Ø NUTWZ therefore urges all unrepresented workers who are not members of the Transport and General Workers Union or who are members of the excluded trade unions to continue engaging their employers in terms of the Labour Act Chapter 28:01 Section 74 (6) with a view to restoring their wages to the February 2019 levels.
Ø On the other hand, employers who impose NECTOI agreements without or before engaging the affected workers is simply committing an unfair business practice defined as unfair labour practice in the Labour Act Chapter 28:01.
Issued by
Noah Ripai Gwande
NUTWZ PRESIDENT

25/06/2021

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23/11/2020

Press Statement

Issued By

NATIONAL UNION OF TRANSPORT WORKERS OF ZIMBABWE
DATE 23 NOVEMBER 2020

Campaign Against Work Place Discrimination In The Road Transport Industry Within SADC Countries..
NUTWZ together with
most progressive road transport trade unions are agitating and mobilizing resources to combat and defeat all forms work place discrimination being practiced by road transport businesses within SADC particularly South Africa.
NUTWZ, together with other progressive trade unions within SADC are fighting against employment discrimination against South African nationals in favour of non South Africans in order exploit slave like cheap labour thereby destroying fair labour standards.
NUTWZ together with other progressive trade unions in the SADC regions are fighting against wage discrimination against non South Africans whereby road transporters are paying non South Africans wages that are lower than the wage rates stipulated the labour authorities in South Africa.
NUTWZ Together with other progressive road transport trade unions are fighting against illegal import and export of cheap labour by road transport operators in order to create slave like exploration of labour.
All progressive forces are fighting against unfair transfer labour across national frontiers and forced labour in the road transport sectors.
Accordingly, progressive trade unions fully support anti- discrimination action throughout the SADC region in order to assure effectiveness.
Trade unions call on the organisers of the 24 and 24 civil action to focus their action against discrimination in all its manifestations and immediately stop the senseless violence against the victims of discrimination.
The action should be reorganised as follows
1. Nationwide collective job action in the road sector whereby all trucks are temporarily parked pending resolution with trucking businesses on the following issues.
1. Justification for employing migrant labour exclusively instead of a quota system.
2. Justification on the legality of relocating employment contracts to neighbouring countries when the business contracts, truck ownership, truck registration and work permit issuance stays in RSA.
3. Explanation as to the legality of importing migrant labour without import papers. Trade unions in the region are in the courts challenging discrimination and forced labour.
Those foreign drivers need your protection as you apply appropriate action on unfair business and unfair labour practice. Call the employer to order and not the employee

Noah Ripai Gwande
President Of National Union Of Transport Workers Of Zimbabwe

Aluta

31/10/2020

NATIONAL UNION OF TRANSPORT WORKERS OF. ZIMBABWE

Press statement

NUTWZ being the road transport sector trade union, guided by overriding imperatives of equity and social justice remains the front line trade Union fighting in the trenches together with the tortured and tormented transport workers.
Tortured and tormented because workers in the road sectors have had their wages slashed by more than 200% in USD terms following the controversial application of the Finance Act post January 2019.
Workers in the road transport sectors have to endure the humiliation of being owned by ravenous capital yet capital sovereignty should be restricted to the labour hours they buy from workers. Capital should buy the hours they can afford to pay for from workers.
Due to extended ownership and resultant loss of sovereignty over labour hours, road transport workers are now routinely being shunted between companies and access national frontiers for profit maximisation by a growing number of SADC transport companies. Interestingly the transport invoicing and receipting stays outside Zimbabwe but the labour contract comes to Zimbabwe. Shocking!!!!!.
This new and growing cross border trade in Zimbabwean transport workers (madhoyilis) was triggered by specific ravenous capital taking advantage of the ultra low wage rates per hour which were irregularly imposed by the Zimbabwe government as it implemented capital- friendly economic polices and programmes.
As at the time of formulating this press statement, in excess of a thousands of transport workers who are holders of SA Work Permits have hsd their contracts of employment unilaterally and arbitrarily relocated to Zimbabwe while they continue working for the SA transporter.
Those who dared resist this cruel cross-border and cross company transplant of contracts of employment, not only lost their employment but their truck based accommodation, in a foreign country for that matter.
This melancholic state of affairs is not helped by an apparent reluctance or lack of enthusiasm on the part of employment authorities in the road sector to conduct enterprise based inspections to audit compliance with physical conditions of employment. Should a physical inspection be conducted, they will find no transporting assets nor employees because the employees are in South Africa. Instead, we have local companies being registered as transport employers whose entire workforce is based in South Africa and whose employees acquired permanent residence in that country often several years before the coming into existence of this Zimbabwe registered company.
Road transport business entities who insist ownership and control of the entire 24 hour prior and also unilaterally control the number of hours they will remunerate and by what means i e basic wage or discretionary incentive bonus.
As a front line trade union in the road transport sector, we call upon and demand the following;
1. The cruel arbitrary transplant of contracts of employment between different companies and across national frontiers should cease immediately failing which existing global and international mechanisms coordinated through international Secretariat will be activated against illegal cross border labour dealers.
2. Registration of transport entities as transport employers must be preceded by inclusive and enterprise biased inspections
3. Periodic labour work station and enterprise based labour inspections must conducted and must be inclusive of all social partners.
4. Wages must be paid in accordance with minimum wages prescribed in SI 26 of 2017 which was registered in terms of the Labour Act Chapter 2801 which Act supersedes all other laws on labour matters including the Finance Act.
5. Road transport employers and workers must immediately engage to agree on the most just and equitable remuneration system for the hours supplied by workers as well as the duties performed during these hours. The present system is shambolic, grotesquely unjust and inequitable.
7. Overarching all these issues is NUTWZ clarion call for the resurrection of the spirit of selfless nationalism in our policymakers to rally in the defense of Zimbabwe's most treasured precious national interest namely labour. Diaspora remittances reflects Zimbabwe's investment in skills development yet foreign companies are attacking the national interest with impunity. Zim and RSA governments should hold urgent bilateral engagements to address this matter.

Issued by
NUTWZ President's Office

10/06/2020

The CEO
Transport Operators Association Of Zimbabwe
Harare

5 June 2020

Re: Government Warning Against Carriage Of Unauthorized Passengers and Red Flagging Of Haulage Truck Drivers.

We are compelled to write to association as the largest body of organised business collective in the haulage sector to highlight and underscore issues around the infection, spreading and post-infection management associated with truck driving.

This our second letter on this subject. The first letter was addressed to the task force a copy of which is attached for your your reference.

We note that by highlighting that drivers are spreading or assisting in the spreading of the pandemic, government has also publicly acknowledged that indeed drivers are contracting the virus or exposed to the virus.

According to information that is in the public domain, infection rate among truck drivers is significant. We have also recorded deaths including one Zimbabwean truck driver who was hurriedly interned in the DRC by authorities in that country before even notifying their Zimbabwean counterparts nor deceased next of kin. We also have credible reports of Zimbabwean truckers who were diagnosed positive in Zambia.

The need for a danger or risk allowance cannot be overemphasised.

The carriage of unauthorized passengers is already prohibited in terms of existing laws but the prohibition has been rendered academic because of the remuneration issues which are seemingly unrelated though closely related. The trade union is dealing with this matter n terms of the relevant procedures. For instance, South African truckers do not carry passengers at all because they better remunerated and are supplied with reasonable accommodation and meals. However, because of growing illegal trafficking of employment contracts from Zimbabwe to South Africa by some employers, most SA registered trucks are now driven by Zimbabwean nationals who remunerated in terms of local standards though working in South Africa. Zimbabweans are paid meals and accommodation in RTGS which are not even indexed to the exchange rates of the respective countries. In the result therefore, they have to resort to the industrial cliche " make plan" which invariably includes buying food groceries, preparing meals and finding affordable accommodation thus exposing them to the risky associations.

Clearly, unless the business model in the road haulage is reconfigured, a monumental health cataclysm will assuredly overwhelm the region. Blaming drivers and criminalising an already criminalized conduct will help none, least of all motivate safe behavior.

By means of this letter, the trade union proposes a tripartite engagement to interrogate the following
* the current logistical model with a view to reducing exposure to infection and spreading of the virus.
* formulation of a covid19 risk allowance and or insurance.

* post infection management and care of patients who may include immediate family of the sick driver.

Given the importance and urgency of this matter, we propose that a meeting be convened at àn agreed venue within the next 14 days from date of receipt of this letter.

Respectfully yours

A. Mapfumo
NUTWZ GENERAL SECRETARY

cc Covid Taskforce
NECTOI

24/05/2020

Labour update

Following the letters of demand for urgent wage review based on the January 2019 USD wage schedules, many employers demanded from the NEC new wage schedules based on the new minimum wage announced by government. The NEC senior officials advised their principals namely Mr C Chandisareva of TOAZ and Mr T. Matanhire who hastily concluded an on line agreement to review wages by 187% and also food and accommodation money as shown in above copy of agreement. Note that the food money is payable in ZWD even for foreign trips.
In order to urgently blockade from being made into law, we have canvassed all other unions to demand that the Minister decline to register this agreement until all unions registered and recognized by government are involved in the negotiations. The letters to the minister will be filed on Tuesday after the holiday.
Unfortunately, there are some drivers who are supporting these sell out agreements particularly one driver from Dairyhill and also from Colbro.

All this is happening in a country where all its citizens have a constitutional right to fair wages and collective bargaining.

Will give further update on Wednesday.

06/05/2020

Labour update

As you already know, at present at least 75% of transport of workers are paid an average wage of rtgs 700.00 or USD 12.0 per month . This translates to rtgs 3.43 or 0.29 USD per hour.
Meanwhile government has gazetted a national minimum wage of rtgs 2500.00 per month or rtgs 12.45 per hour. This translates to USD 45.45 or USD 0.22 per hour.
According to the Labor Act sections 17, 19 and 20 , the minister may make regulations to improve existing conditions of employment not reduce.

As guided by provisions of the Labour Act which is the supreme law on labour matters, the trade union is continuing to write to employers demanding payment of wages in terms of Statutory Instrument 26 of 2017 which was (is) in US dollars. This Statutory Instrument stipulated the average minimum at about USD 331.00 or USD 1.63 per hour.

The least we can accept is payment of the equivalent in rtgs.

As you know comrades, this campaign or project requires financial resources. Donations towards this project will be more than welcome.

Will keep you comrades updated.

Aluta

N R Gwande
NUTWZ PRESIDENT

Address

Room 4, Alpha House, Cnr Harare St/K. Nkrumah Avenue
Harare

Telephone

+263777467481

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