Licensing Requirements

You must hold a valid Zimbabwean or other recognised driver's licence, and it must cover the class of vehicle you are driving.

Zimbabwe puts every vehicle in one of five classes.

• Class 1, public service vehicle: a bus, kombi, taxi or haulage truck carrying passengers or goods for hire. It carries red on white number plates and asks for more than an age: twenty five and above in the papers, thirty in law since January 2025 for a bus or commuter omnibus, at least five years of driving behind you, a medical certificate valid for twelve months and a defensive driving certificate valid for forty eight months.
• Class 2, heavy motor vehicle, net mass above 2,300 kg. From eighteen, and the test is taken in a vehicle of at least 5,000 kg.
• Class 3, motorcycle. From sixteen.
• Class 4, light motor vehicle, net mass 2,300 kg or less. From sixteen.
• Class 5, agricultural and earth moving machinery. From eighteen.

Since 2023 the law names these by codes, and a licence issued now carries them: class 1 is the D codes, class 2 the C codes, class 3 codes A, A1 and B1, class 4 codes B and BE, and class 5 code BÊ. The papers still ask in classes, so answer them in classes.

A learner's licence, the provisional licence, is issued only after you pass the test on the rules of the road and on traffic signs and signals. It lets you drive on public roads to gain experience with a fully licensed driver beside you, and the vehicle must display an L plate of the dimensions and colours the law prescribes. Supervision is waived only on certain vehicles that have a seat for the driver alone. A provisional licence is permission to practise, not permission to drive alone. The full licence comes when you pass the practical road test.

Registration and insurance stand beside the licence. Your vehicle must be registered and licensed, and you must be covered by insurance against death and injury to third parties. Before you drive a vehicle that is not your own, check that the cover extends to you, since a policy that names another driver leaves you carrying the whole cost of a collision that was never your fault.