CLAIM:In line with the enacted Broadcasting Services Amendment Act, all motorists are now required to obtain a ZBC radio license before they can renew their vehicle insurance or acquire a ZINARA motor vehicle licence disc.
SOURCE: Internal Memo, purportedly from ZINARA
VERDICT: False
A picture of an internal memorandum presumably from the Zimbabwe National Road Administration (ZINARA) has been widely circulated. In this memo, the institution advises its employees on the new regulations from the Broadcasting Services Amendment Act which came into effect on 15 July 2025.
The memo makes a claim that the new law requires ‘all motorists’ to ‘obtain a ZBC radio license before they can renew their vehicle insurance or acquire a ZINARA motor vehicle licence disc’.
One of the paragraphs reads, ‘For customers without a radio (requiring exemption): Customers whose vehicles are not equipped with a radio receiver are now required to obtain an exemption certificate from the ZBC. They will need to personally visit any ZBC Licensing Office to complete the necessary declaration form and obtain this exemption. We cannot process their ZINARA disc or insurance renewal until they present a valid exemption certificate’.
This ZINARA memo has been circulated by the media, here and here.
But is this ZINARA position correct according to the Act? Not so.
While section 13 of the amendment act now makes it mandatory for motorists to first acquire a Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation (ZBC) radio licence or exemption letter before buying motor vehicle licences and insurance policies, cars with no radio receivers are not required to buy a radio licence or get an exemption letter from ZBC to be issued a ZINARA or insurance disc, as claimed in the memo.
‘The Zimbabwe National Road Administration (ZINARA) and every motor insurance company shall only issue a motor vehicle licence and motor insurance policy respectively to individuals and companies who either hold a current radio licence issued by the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation (ZBC) or a valid exemption certificate from (ZBC) unless the vehicle to be insured is not equipped with a radio receiver,’ reads Section 13 of the Broadcasting Services Amendment Act in part.
There are two clear provisions here. The first is that a car with a radio but having a valid exemption certificate can get a ZINARA motor vehicle licence without having to produce a ZBC current radio licence first. Secondly, a car without a radio is exempted with no need for a ZBC exemption certificate.
The owner of a vehicle that does not have a radio receiver is not required to visit ZBC for exemption but only needs to sign a declaration as specified in the Eighth Schedule of the Act shown below.
21 Insertion of a new Schedule
The principal Act is amended by the insertion of a new Schedule after the Seventh
Schedule—
“EIGHTH SCHEDULE (Section 38B)
Declaration By a Motorist in Terms of Section 38B (4) of the Broadcasting
Services Act [Chapter 12:06]
I…………………………………………………(Name) ID Number…………………………
of……………………………………………………………………………………… (Address)
do hereby state that
(1) I am the registered owner of a motor vehicle being (make) ……………………………………
registration number………………………………….
(2) I hereby state and declare that the said vehicle is not equipped with a radio receiver.
(3) I swear that the above information is true and correct.
Thus, stated and sworn at………………………this day of……………………202…
Sworn ………………………………………………… Date…………………….
Sworn and signed before me…………………………. Date……………………
Conclusion
According to the law, ZBC can issue exemption letters for cars with radio receivers. It is not clear on what grounds the exemption can be given. This seems to have been left to the discretion of the broadcaster. However, cars with no radio receivers do not need to visit any ZBC Licencing office for exemption as stated in the ZINARA memo, but only need to fill in the ‘Declaration by a motorist’ contained in the eighth schedule of the Act before a commissioner of Oaths and present it when applying for a ZINARA disc. Therefore, the information on the memorandum stating that ‘Customers whose vehicles are not equipped with a radio receiver are now required to obtain an exemption certificate from the ZBC. They will need to personally visit any ZBC Licensing Office to complete the necessary declaration form and obtain this exemption. We cannot process their ZINARA disc or insurance renewal until they present a valid exemption certificate’, is false and contrary to the law. Customers without a radio do not require an exemption but only to sign the declaration by a motorist.
Similar claims have been debunked before.
