Where do broken cars go?

Leroy Dzenga
Senior Reporter

Behind every vehicle purchase is a story.

A tale of breakthrough, convenience and growth. This is why stories about first cars endure beyond decades, and traditionally dictate conversations on the fireside. Told in reminiscence, they are perhaps among those priceless tales of life where one finds love in an asset.

Even those who remember their loved ones long gone, use vehicles as an object of memory. Like those who buy them, cars do not live forever, they bear their own retractable mortality.

In most cases, their lifespan is directly proportional to the depth of the owner’s pocket.

During a drive around Harare, one is likely to be confronted by scores of run down vehicles that would have submitted to the whims of time. No one is immune, from those who live on the proverbial shoe string or those of perceived financial might, from Mufakose to Borrowdale, household yards have become automobile graveyards. Although they stand uncounted, it is undisputable that the number of disused vehicles in Harare’s public spaces is growing.

Most have become mounds of rust, gathering dust while others communicate a premature ending, possibly from a problematic component which proved too costly for the owner’s pocket. However, in spite of the reasons behind the demise, the city fathers are unimpressed with the growing population of abandoned cars.

City of Harare spokesperson Mr Michael Chideme gave a terse response, perhaps indicating growing concern among city fathers.

He said the local authority had plans to auction off the vehicles long forgotten by their owners, but the lack of resources was delaying the process.

“We have done part of the job; we continue doing so resources permitting. We have removed some of the vehicles, but we are yet to auction them,” said Mr Chideme.

Chitungwiza, a town known for notorious car parks, has also seen its municipality reading the riot act.

Chitungwiza Municipality spokesperson Mr Lovemore Meya told The Sunday Mail that town authorities were concerned with the proliferation of disused vehicles.

“Our by-laws prohibit abandoning cars at car parks and any other undesignated sites,” said Mr Meya.

“In terms of engaging the owners, we did this through issuing prohibition and enforcement orders. What will happen is we serve the prohibition order using the Regional, Town and Country Planning Act. We advised those who could have dumped the cars to remove the cars with immediate effect.”

The two local authorities, however, face an uphill task if they are to clear this expensive “rubbish”.

Opportunities from vehicle scrap

However, where some see junk, others salivate at the prospect of turning that scrap into something new.

Trevor Mabhutsu (26), a vintage car enthusiast, has been bringing condemned vehicles back to life. He has committed his life to finding old ramshackle vehicles and bringing them back onto the road.

Having breathed life into more than 30 vehicles, Mabhutsu considers his life path more of a calling than a profession.

“I have been doing this since I was 14. I have brought back to life a number of cars. What informs our choice is the availability of replacement parts, as well as the value of the vehicle after it is back on the road,” said Mabhutsu.

His prefers working on classics, especially Mercedes Benz models and others which are coveted by collectors.

“One thing I would want is machinery and equipment. This would allow me to finish my jobs earlier than I do,” he said.

His business model is simple, either he gets commissioned to work on a project or he uses his personal finances to bring back a car to life, which he will sell once he repairs it.

Owing to buyers’ sentimentality, classic vehicles fetch far more on the market as compared to recent imports from Asia. Creators of art also see utility in these vehicles, which have the potential to be re-purposed for storytelling.

Award-winning mixed media artist Ngonidzashe Tsiga said cars communicate regardless of their state. Along with his partner Johnson Zuze, they work as Artopia Studios where they look for abandoned matter which can be converted into works of art.

“In art we talk of something we call ‘energy in objects’ meaning every object possesses and gives off a certain aura or feeling. That energy is present in cars,” said Tsiga.

Tsiga, who is one half of the NAMA award-winning duo, said the use of old vehicles in art was in itself a form of resistance.

“Capitalist economies take raw materials and they dump them back here after using them. Our art plays a very important role in preserving history, some of the elements that are available will no longer be available so we use our art to document present events with no bias,” said Tsiga.

One of their most revered pieces called “Noah’s Ark” is a large life sized ark made of numerous pieces of what would normally be waste, including car components.

Beyond art, industrialists are of the opinion that the abandoned cars can be put to productive use.

Not all of them can be brought back to life, but the steel in vehicles has value.

Industrial Development Corporation acting general manager Mr Dzinashe Matanhire said abandoned cars have intrinsic value. IDC runs Willowvale Motors Industries,“The owners would have failed to maintain the car. It is easy to buy a car, but running a car is not easy.

“Whenever you see grounded cars, it is not because there is a shortage of spare parts but because of money challenges sometimes people struggle,” said Mr Matanhire.

Mr Matanhire suggested that as a solution to the burgeoning number of grounded vehicles, banks should consider funding vehicle maintenance financing.

“Locally assembled cars have a better advantage in that if there is an understanding between the buyer and the seller, they can have kits imported for them.

“It may take a month or two for the component to come, but it eventually comes.

“Up to now, we can still bring spare parts for a 1997 Madza 323 provided we assembled it, we have agreements with the company.

“It is, however, different from these grey imports, some of the cars being imported are no longer being produced and the manufacturer is under no obligation to keep providing after sales services,” he said.

He said disused vehicles can be taken to foundry and forging companies which melt steel into liquid before moulding it into new shapes and design.

“It can be a feeder into the local steel industry, as the steel can be used to come up with things like deformed bars” added Mr Matanhire.

In addition, disused vehicles have become key conduits for the embryonic car-breaking industry, which is emerging among the most thriving small business sectors in the country.

Motorists who are disillusioned by counterfeit car parts sold in areas including downtown Harare prefer genuine second hand parts from accident damaged vehicles as well as knocked out vehicles, as they often prove more durable.

Gazaland informal industry in Highfield has a large part of its economy anchored on trading second hand car parts. However, once a car is stripped bare it becomes a shell, adding to the waste.

Town planner, Dr Percy Toriro said there was need for progressive policy making in dealing with abandoned vehicles.

“Abandoned vehicles that in most cases are old broken-down and non-functional constitute a type of urban waste. This is a special type of waste requiring specialised attention.

“Firstly, municipalities must have regulations to deal with such vehicles. In other jurisdictions the vehicles are towed away to scrap yards where the steel scrap is reduced, recovered, and recycled,” Dr Toriro said.

He said local authorities struggling for additional sources of revenue can utilise this opportunity, if they put their respective business development departments to good use.

“There is the town planning and regulatory expectation that councils create a framework for managing such vehicles and identify appropriate spaces where they are taken to.

“Then there is the industrial reduction and recycling to avoid environmental pollution.

“If the two are addressed, the whole value chain is appropriately attended to,” said Dr Toriro.

He proposed that local authorities, companies that deal with steel and local universities, through their innovation hubs, can engage to come up with a workable solution in reducing the grounded car population profitably.

In 1988, American singer Whitney Houston released her hit single “Where do broken Hearts go?”.

She posed a rhetorical question, on where broken hearts go and whether or not they find their way home?

Perhaps the same question applies, where do broken cars go?