Issue 575

What surprised us the most in our trip was
seeing the most familiarized Nanny Van with the
text “School private light bus” on the side of the
Toyota Coaster running on the roads of Zanzibar.
There were even several red-striped “van jai”
(Hong Kong’s minibus) with the destination of
MongKok picking up passengers on the Tanzanian
roads. Yet, these vehicles are known as daladala
here.
Often overcrowded and operated at unsafe
speeds, dala dala are the public minibus running
all throughout Tanzania. Dala– meaning five in
the local Kiswahili slang – originated from the fare
previously being 5 shillings in Tanzania. A public
transport means developed in response to the
inadequacy in the transport system, conductors
would typically shout out “dala dala” at the top
of his lungs to attract passengers onboard. The
conductor is also known as a mpigadebe– literally
refers to “a person who hits a debe (a 4-gallon
tin container used for transporting gasoline or
water)” – continues to hit the vehicle’s roof to
draw customers and notify the driver the when to
leave a stop. Unlike Australia, the dala dalas are
more than happy to stop anywhere, even if that is
on a crowded highway – as long as they can pick
up another paying passenger!
used vehicles are tossed into containers and
shipped over to meet the continent’s growing
demand for transport. Majority of the vehicles
purchased by Tanzanians are second-hand, with
Japanese vehicle models dominating the market.
These vehicles are reliable, durable and most
importantly are available at practical prices. In
some instances, the duties on used vehicles are
less than that of new vehicles.
It is no surprise that the roads of Tanzania
are laden with reconditioned vehicles. Whilst it
might make economic sense, little is known on
the environmental implication on this land filling
upwith second-hand cars. In absence of any
regional or global agreements to govern the flow
of used vehicles, the flooding of unwanted cars is
likely to pollute this continent.
Whilst the vehicle typically looks well
maintained, these second-hand vans from
foreign countries simply never retire from the
fleet.Repairment is likely to be doneover and
over again. As there are littlevehicle production
in Africa, a huge market exists for inexpensive
used cars.Each year tens of thousands of
SAMEWAY ISSUE 575 P. 55 23.11.2018