KEY POINTS

• Kazembe admits that the system has wrongly issued some traffic violation notices.

• The platform has reportedly recorded about five million violations, with 10 to 20 errors reported.

• Government promises corrective measures and says motorists can verify offences through video evidence.

Zimbabwe’s Home Affairs and Cultural Heritage Minister, Kazembe Kazembe, has admitted that the country’s recently introduced Smart Traffic Management System has wrongly issued traffic violation notices to some motorists, promising urgent action to correct the errors.

Kazembe acknowledged the problems during a question-and-answer session in Parliament this week after motorists complained about receiving penalties for offences they claimed they did not commit.

He said investigations had confirmed that some notices were issued incorrectly because the automated system failed to capture vehicle registration numbers accurately.

The minister disclosed that the system had sometimes missed a digit when recording registration details, resulting in motorists being wrongly identified.

Human Error Blamed for Incorrect Tickets

Kazembe said the errors could have resulted from problems with the technology or failures in the process of verifying traffic violations before penalties are issued.

He explained that police officers are required to review every offence detected by the automated cameras before a ticket is sent to the vehicle owner.

However, he acknowledged that some officers may have failed to identify inaccuracies during the verification process.

The minister said he had raised the complaints with the Commissioner-General of Police and requested urgent intervention to address the problem.

He also accepted responsibility for the errors, stressing that the government was not attempting to justify the mistakes and had begun investigating them from an operational perspective.

Motorists Can Verify Traffic Offences Through Video Evidence

Despite the complaints, Kazembe defended the system’s design, saying it provides motorists with an opportunity to establish whether they actually committed the alleged violations before paying penalties.

He explained that traffic violation notices contain links through which vehicle owners can access video footage of the incidents recorded by the system.

According to the minister, this verification process allows motorists to examine the evidence and determine whether the vehicle involved belongs to them.

He maintained that motorists were not simply being instructed to pay fines without having access to information supporting the alleged offences.

Government Claims System Is Up to 99% Accurate

Kazembe said the Smart Traffic Management System had recorded approximately five million traffic violations since its introduction.

He estimated that only about 10 to 20 cases of incorrect tickets had been reported, arguing that the number of complaints was relatively small compared with the total violations captured.

Based on those figures, he suggested that the platform was between 98% and 99% accurate.

However, the minister acknowledged that even a small number of errors could unfairly affect motorists and insisted that every reported case must be addressed.

He said authorities were working to correct the inaccuracies and prevent motorists from being penalised for offences they did not commit.

TelOne Developed the Traffic Management Platform

The minister also disclosed that Zimbabwe’s telecommunications company, TelOne, designed the Smart Traffic Management System.

He praised the development as an example of the country’s ability to create local technological solutions to domestic challenges.

Kazembe credited President Emmerson Mnangagwa for supporting the involvement of a local company in developing the platform.

The system has attracted public debate since its introduction, particularly over the accuracy of automated camera detections and the penalties issued to motorists.

Although the government maintains that the technology is largely reliable, the minister’s admission has placed renewed attention on the need for proper verification procedures and effective mechanisms for resolving disputed traffic tickets.