Buwerimwe (48), a glass fitter, took his skills into the informal trade where he now operates a backyard glass fitting company.
On a daily basis he is in a cat-and-mouse relationship with Municipal Police as he is an unlicensed trader, and he also has to battle with registered glass fitting companies that offer the same service, situated nearby.
Buwerimwe is one of thousands labouring to make a living as a self-employed artisan. This has led to formal traders in Mutare lamenting that the city has been oversubscribed by informal traders, who now threaten to push them out of business.
The period from 2007 – 2009 saw major companies Mutare Board and Paper Mills (MBPM), Zimboard and Plate Glass (PG) closing down, while others such as Tanganda Holdings, Cairns Foods, the Wattle Company and Border Timbers scaled down their operations.
A shop owner in the city centre, Shaquil Ahmed, said: “We have been pushed out of business. Yes, I understand that there are no jobs and almost everyone is now involved in the informal business, but we have been put out of business as some of the informal traders are selling their wares, that I also sell, right in front of my shop.”
There has also been a huge rise in the number of mobile restaurants serving food door-to-door.
“There is disorder everywhere. I operate a restaurant and I am losing business to these informal traders who are selling food openly in the streets and behind backyards. Others are even going door-to-door selling food in lunchboxes. I have been losing in sales during the recent years. The city fathers and police must do something in order to arrest the situation,” said Farai Zinyemba a restaurant owner.
The Town Clerk, Obert Muzawazi, said the council was concerned by the growth of the informal sector. “We have seen a situation where shop owners in formal trade are refusing to pay rates as they say the council police should arrest the informal traders that are operating on pavements in front of their shops. We can work with the police but, it has become extremely difficult for us,” he said.
He called on government to speed up efforts to fund small-to-medium enterprise activities to give birth to a strong economic base that could sustain the city and the country as a whole.
Post published in: News