Story by Panashe Nagoli
RESIDENTS of Harare have appealed to the Zimbabwe Republic Police to deploy officers and intensify patrols in areas that have become robbery hotspots, particularly along Highglen Road.
Drivers say criminals are taking advantage of traffic-calming humps and potholes along Highglen Road, emerging from nearby maize fields and dark alleys to target unsuspecting motorists.
Victims described how robbers pounce when vehicles slow down, smashing windows, grabbing valuables and disappearing within seconds.
“We were with my friend, and when he slowed down, a man came out from the bushes and smashed my phone and ran away. It happened so fast that we did not even see where he went,” one motorist said.
Another driver said the situation has become so dire that some residents are now avoiding the route altogether, even during emergencies.
“I once had a medical emergency and needed to go to hospital, but because I had previously been robbed here, I had to take a longer route,” he said.
Pedestrians have also expressed fear, saying criminals have effectively imposed an informal curfew in the area. Some alleys near the Highglen and Hin Road intersection are reportedly used by robbers to ambush both motorists and people walking home at night.
“We cannot walk home after dark. A woman was recently beaten and robbed, then left lying in one of the alleys,” a resident said.
Other areas cited as crime-prone include the intersection of Lytton Road and Highglen Road, as well as a spot popularly known as Boka Masteps.
Residents are calling for visible police presence, routine patrols and improved lighting in the affected areas to restore safety and confidence among motorists and pedestrians.
Residents calling for intensified police patrols say fears of violent crime are not new, pointing to past incidents that left lasting scars on communities in western Harare.
In 2010, a serial rapist who terrorised women in Mufakose, Marimba and Kuwadzana, at times forcing husbands to watch as he attacked their wives was sentenced to 90 years in prison. Mlamleli Mpofu received an effective 60-year jail term after the court suspended a third of the sentence.
