By Jonathan Mbiriyamveka
HARARE — Delta Corporation on Friday honoured the men and women who keep its fleet moving, hosting the 2026 Driver of the Year Awards at the Delta Driver Training School in Ruwa.
The event, held at Delta Transport Services on Friday, celebrated the company’s heavy motor vehicle (HMV) drivers and forklift operators, recognising a year of accident-free, disciplined service on Zimbabwe’s roads.
Speaking on behalf of the company, Group Treasurer Mr Tumai Mafunga noted that the Driver of the Year Awards was a tribute to the people who carry the Delta promise across the country.
“Our fleet gives us strength. Our brands give us reach. But our people give us momentum,” Mafunga said. “Our trucks carry the Delta name; our drivers and operators carry the Delta promise.”
A Year of Milestones
The scale of Delta’s operations was laid bare in the opening remarks. Mafunga revealed that the company’s trucks operated a total of 16 million kilometres in the past financial year, 13 million of which were completed by the internal fleet.
The company’s forklift operators also logged a staggering 400,000 operational hours.
To qualify for the Driver of the Year Awards, nominees had to meet rigorous criteria: permanent employment, an accident-free record for the financial year, a clean telematics record, sound vehicle handling, and a clean disciplinary record.
“A clean record is like a well-serviced engine: it does not happen by accident,” Mafunga said. “It takes daily checks, steady hands and the discipline to stay in the right lane when no one is watching.”
A Rigorous Competition
The competition was not a mere formality. It was a three-stage gauntlet.
Stage 1 (Preliminaries): Practical driving assessments saw 65 HMV drivers advance.
Stage 2 (Semi-finals): Theory and practical tests narrowed the field to 15.
Stage 3 (Finals): The top 15 went head-to-head at the Delta Driver Training School.
To ensure fairness, the finals were independently adjudicated by officers from the Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP), the Traffic Safety Council of Zimbabwe (TSCZ), and the Vehicle Inspectorate Department (VID). Delta’s Internal Audit Division also reviewed every stage.
Public-Private Partnership in Action
The event underscored the critical role of public-private partnerships in road safety.
Mr Allowance Sango, Director of the Vehicle Inspectorate Department, who was the guest speaker, commended Delta for sustaining the competition for more than three decades—since its inception in October 1990.
“When a company invests in the skills and attitudes of its drivers, it is not only protecting its own people and assets; it is making our roads safer for everyone who uses them,” Sango said.
Sango noted that the objectives of the Driver of the Year Awards—raising driving standards, preserving human life, improving asset care, and building a road safety culture—harmonise fully with the Ministry of Transport’s mandate.
“Inspections can certify a vehicle, but only discipline can certify a driver,” he added. “This is public-private partnership at its best. Delta brings the investment in training… and the public institutions bring independent standards and oversight. When business invests and Government verifies, the nation wins.”
The National Toll of Road Accidents
Both speakers contextualised the awards against the grim reality of Zimbabwe’s road safety crisis.
Mafunga noted that between January and November 2025, Zimbabwe recorded more than 54,000 crashes and 2,175 deaths—more than six lives lost every day, at an estimated cost of 3 percent of GDP a year.
Sango added that ZIMSTAT figures for the second quarter of 2025 alone showed over 15,000 crashes and 624 deaths, nearly seven every day. He noted that international research shows roughly 90 percent of crashes involve human error.
“Behind every statistic is a name, a family and an empty seat at the dinner table,” Mafunga said. “When a Delta driver arrives safely, a shelf is stocked, a business trades and a family is fed.”
Looking Ahead
The ceremony also revealed that Delta is at an advanced stage with plans to extend the competition to light motor vehicle drivers—a move welcomed by the VID Director, who noted that smaller vehicles are involved in a large share of crashes.
As the company celebrates the winners and finalists of 2026, the message from Ruwa was clear: safety is not just a corporate requirement, but a national duty.
“To our winners, congratulations. To our finalists, we are proud of you,” Mafunga concluded.
“Keep checking your mirrors. Keep your hands steady and your eyes on the road. Keep learning, because the best drivers never treat their skills as finished.”
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