Chadibe Route - An Ordeal For Commuters

ISAAC PINIELO
Correspondent | Friday May 14, 2010 00:00

 

A sane trip to Chadibe village - situated about 25km southwest of Francistown - is supposed to take not longer than 30 minutes. But due to the extensive delay at the rank, one can expect to reach home after about three hours. This means that the waiting alone could take about two and a half hours while the actual journey is only 30 minutes, depending on which part of the village one stays.

Like most people, I was lured to the village due to the high cost of accommodation in the City of Francistown. I, however, had not considered the delay that I have to contend with at the bus rank each day after work.

As I have come to realise, there are many people who travel to Chadibe from Francistown after hours and the delays are now commonplace, but something that one can never get used to.

On this one particular day, on a Wednesday, I decide to rush straight to the rank after knocking off. The time is precisely 17:12 when I get to the bus rank. My heart skips a beat when I realise that hordes of commuters have already queued up meaning that I have a longer wait in store for me.

To add to my misery, there is not a single combi in sight. I anxiously look at the time and notice that I have already spent 20 minutes in the line without anything happening. There are already many people queuing behind me and I wonder if they feel as helpless as I do.

'Waitse fa e le laene ya dikhombi tsa Chadibe yone ke mathata! (This line for Chadibe combis is really a problem!),' a passenger in the queue can be heard complaining.

Another person is heard murmuring about reaching their destination at night, facing the risk of being attacked by criminals.Suddenly a combi approaches the rank. You can see the anxiety in everyone as they repeatedly turn their heads towards where the combi is entering. As it stops at the front of the queue, there is much pushing and shoving as the first batch of passengers scramble to climb in. 'Palamang sentle... palamang sentle!' The driver of the combi can be heard cautioning the passengers to be orderly.

Suddenly the situation calms down as the combi leaves the rank with some passengers. 'How lucky they are,' I think to myself, wondering how long they must have waited in the queue. They probably came two hours earlier than I did. I notice that I have a long wait ahead of me as the queue moves at a snail's pace.

The situation is even worse when it is month end. During that time, some passengers literally engage in a bruising tussle when others forcibly enter the line at the front. Others can be heard howling insults at those pushing into the line.

For some combi drivers from other routes, the situation presents them with an advantage to make extra-cash. They occasionally smuggle passengers from the queue into their combis. The passengers accept this initiative because of desperation.

'These people are really helping us. I don't know what we would do if it wasn't for them,' says an old woman standing in front of me.Because of the smuggling by these other drivers, the line has now moved faster. I am now among the passengers at the front of the queue. As another combi from the Blocks route veers towards our queue and I jump into the front seat. I give a silent blessing to the driver of the combi who has just relieved me of my misery. He has just made my life so much easier, because instead of me waiting for the illusive Chadibe combis, I am now headed home at long last.

In no time at all, I sail past Borolong village and for just a moment, I breathe a sigh of relief when the combi turns into Chadibe village. Dropping off just before the railway crossing, I spend a crucial five minutes before I actually get home. What an exhausting way to end the day and I am a good 10 minutes late for my favourite television soapie.

Certainly it does not look like the majority of residents of Chadibe will be moving anywhere any time soon. As long as there is a huge demand for houses, people will continue to flock to Chadibe because of its proximity to Francistown, but it is disheartening that it takes us ages to reach our places of residence after work.