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Hardlife Chipika (right) CEO of Pamushana Holdings illustrates a point while Keith Chirimanzi, his subordinate looks on

Leroy Dzenga Features Writer
An elderly lady stands at a kombi rank in Harare’s Central Business District (CBD) together with a young girl who looks like her daughter, unfazed by the chaos caused by touts soliciting for passengers.

As they wait, continuous glances at her phone suggest that she is eagerly waiting for someone to pick her up. Agitated by her lack of interest towards their vehicles, touts ask who she is waiting for, a question she responds with a single phrase, “Old Trafford.”

With lowered shoulders the touts retreat, a sign of a battle lost in its early stages. The Manchester United themed kombis plying the Warren Park-City route have become a staple among commuters due to the quality services they offer.

Operating officially under Pamushana Africa, the kombis, identified by their Old Trafford moniker have won the hearts of many through their honest approach to business if compared to others in the public transport sector.

“It has been four years since I have been using Pamushana Africa kombis. They are reliable, the crew is honest. If you leave your things, they will keep them for you regardless of the value,” said Elegance Kasambarare a regular passenger with the operator.

Pamushana Africa is a far distance from other operators who employ dishonest crews inconveniencing passengers turning Harare’s public transport system into chaos.

“Several passengers drop their phones in the kombis and the crew together with the management keep them until the owners come and collect. There are also instances I send my groceries home with any of their buses and they get delivered without any unit missing,” Kasambarare said, commending the convenience which has made them loyal to the brand.

With two WhatsApp platform groups with close to 600 members, passengers get updates of the times their favourite kombis get to the rank and in Warren Park. This allows them to schedule their plans in sync with the times which the crews would have provided. Another passenger, Hazel Muka said the WhatsApp group idea has made their lives easier.

“The Whatsapp platform is very important to us. We always get updates on where the buses will be at any given time. This allows us to wait for them with knowledge of the time they will take to get to us,” Muka commented on the WhatsApp platform for passengers.

Besides being a board where updates are found, the platform also serves as a digital suggestion box, while some make seat reservations via the social network.

“To be honest, Pamushana Africa has defied the laws of business I was previously used to. They put their clients first and the rest follows. This is done through their customer care, reliability and transparency, which has fostered a personal relationship between the company and its customers,” Nqobile Nyoni, another passenger of three years said.

Hardlife Chipika, the company’s proprietor says his love for football specifically Manchester United inspired his business idea.

“I love Manchester United and this is the theme we decided to follow when we launched in 2010. We started with a single kombi and have grown from there,” said Chipika.

The Manchester United inspiration saw them operating under the name Old Trafford, which was later changed to Pamushana Africa for uniformity with other subsidiaries of the holding company.

“Our fleet has 18 buses. We maintain that number deliberately because once the fleet gets too big, it becomes difficult to coordinate and we may end up failing to maintain our standard in serving our customers,” Chipika explained one of the reasons behind their fleet size.

All of the buses are branded according to the regular Manchester United squad. The current fleet carries names of players like Pogba, Lukaku, Lingaard, Mourinho, Zlatan just to name a few.

“We also maintain 18 kombis because a team squad on a match day usually has 17 or 18 players. In our case, we have 17 infield players and one coach. Our branding is adjusted according to the changes at Manchester United. If a player is sold, we either sell or rebrand that kombi depending on conditions,” Chipika said.

His favourite is the Lukaku bus whose upholstery aptly describes elegance. Despite the short distance, about 9km from the CBD, three quarters of the fleet has flat screen television sets, which keep customers entertained.

The interior make-up of Pamushana Africa kombis makes them stand out in the midst of copycats who have been trying to sway passengers by imitating their colours and signage. Their staff is distinctive with their branded uniforms, which they wear on each day of work, a trait which has made them identifiable with their patrons.

“Our crew has uniforms with named badges. This allows easy identification for compliments or complaints from passengers. Our staff members attend customer service trainings twice a year, this together with our contracts which are binding on customer care are the reasons why we are preferred by the public,” said Chipika.

Pamushana Africa has been repaying the passenger’s loyalty through discounts and promotions.

“Yearly, we select 40 of our loyal customers whom we take to a resort as a way of appreciating their commitment towards our brand. Last year, we went to (Lake) Kariba, and this year we will be heading to Nyanga for a three-day retreat,” Chipika described their efforts to create a relationship with passengers.

Intermittent free rides also constitute their operations.

“Each year on December 11, May 25 and May 6, Pamushana Africa offers free rides from 6 am to 9pm to all its customers, old and new. We chose these days because they are our directors’ birthdays,” Chipika said.

There have been suggestions in some circles calling for the phasing out of kombis but Chipika believes there is space for both public and private transport operators.

“My plea to the new administration is that if they should bring back the public transport system, they should allow us to complement the system to benefit the people,” said Chipika.

Their biggest operational challenges are parking bay spaces and registration.

“We are compliant with every regulatory requirement. We negotiated with Harare City Council for our own designated parking space which we got,” he said.

Registration also causes headaches for kombi operators.

“Life would be easier for us if all the paperwork would be accessible from the same place. For a kombi to be fully registered you have to approach six different offices, operating with different deadlines and it is strenuous,” said Chipika.

Pamushana Africa transport is a subsidiary of Pamushana Holdings which houses two other divisions focusing on horticulture through Pamushana Fresh Farm Produce and security, which is handled by Crime Stoppers.

Chipika is the Chief Executive Officer of the holding company, delegating the day-to-day running to selected Chief Operating Officers. The dedicated business approach is a result of the professional level of operation which is rare in most kombi companies. More than five other operators have tried to paint their fleets with the same colours as Pamushana Africa in a bid to chip into their market share.

However, Pamushana Africa has won the hearts of many in Warren Park and the reception has inspired the operator to set their sights on the regional market. From next year, they will be venturing into cross boarder routes. If they maintain their customer centred operation, it will not be surprising to see them become a market leader in that space as well.

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