The vendors are insisting that the government should make room for them to trade legally by taking shops that have been allocated to Nigerians and Chinese, complaining that they were allocated the shopping licences corruptly.
Observers warn that increasing anger could spark xenophobic attacks. “The Harare City Council must put its house in order by removing the Nigerians and Chinese who are occupying almost every building and space, otherwise my shop is here on the street and I am staying put,” declared a street vendor who called himself VaMaDube, who peddles different wares from clothing to electrical gadgets along Fourth Street.
Mayor Muchadeyi Masunda and Lesley Gwindi, Harare City Council Public Relations Manager, recently warned illegal vendors in the capital to immediately vacate their illegal selling points, threatening a crackdown by the municipal police. Since 2006, following a government sanctioned blitz on illegal structures and vending, Operation Murambatsvina, informal traders have been returning to the streets in increasing numbers as they battle to earn a living amid biting poverty.
They use any available space in the city centre, from alleys to pavements, to sell an array of wares that include cigarettes, vegetables, clothing, electrical gadgets, mobile recharge cards and foreign currency.
They are accused of littering the streets of the capital, once dubbed ‘Sunshine City’, the vendors are engaged in regular running battles with the municipal police and the Zimbabwe Republic Police – who seem to be losing the battle.
Post published in: News