BULAWAYO - Teenagers in Zimbabwe’s second-largest city are shifting their notorious unsupervised parties to moving minibuses to evade crackdowns by authorities, a national AIDS official said.
The “Vuzu” parties, gatherings typically held in private homes and known for underage drinking, drug use and risky sexual behavior, have evolved into mobile events aboard hired kombis, or minibus taxis, according to the National AIDS Council.
Douglas Moyo, a programs officer with the council, said organizers are loading the vehicles with alcohol and other substances, then driving around Bulawayo with no fixed destination while partying and allegedly engaging in sexual activity inside.
“They hire a kombi, get in with their girlfriends, alcohol and other substances, then simply drive around. Along the way, anything can happen inside that kombi,” Moyo told a youth engagement program in Bulawayo’s Old Pumula suburb.
The mobile gatherings, locally known as “mjeje,” are harder to detect than traditional house parties that drew police attention with loud music and crowds, Moyo said.
Many of the kombis have tinted windows and are customized to look attractive.
Authorities in Bulawayo have formed a provincial multi-sectoral committee involving security agencies to combat the Vuzu culture.
Moyo said traffic police and criminal investigators have been alerted to watch for the roaming parties.
Vuzu parties have long raised alarms among health officials and parents over substance abuse, unprotected sex and the potential spread of HIV and other sexually transmitted infections.
Some reports described boys competing to have sex with the most girls during the events.
The National AIDS Council and local media have documented the phenomenon for years in both high and low-density suburbs of Bulawayo.
While traditional fixed-location parties appear to be declining, Moyo stressed the underlying problems have not disappeared - they have simply changed tactics.
Health officials continue to urge greater parental supervision, community vigilance and access to HIV prevention services for young people.
No immediate comment was available from police spokespeople on the latest enforcement efforts.