Viset response to Cabinet on informal traders markets

THE Vendors Initiative for Social and Economic Transformation (Viset) notes the announcement of Cabinet resolutions pertaining to informal traders markets by Women Affairs, Community, Small and Medium Enterprises Development minister Sithembiso Nyoni.

We believe the measures should ideally have been in place and enforced at the inception of lockdown in order to minimise the spread of COVID-19.

Some of the measures announced include the provision of sanitisers along with running water, at a time the City of Harare’s acting director of water has announced that water supplies will be affected due to lack of chemicals.

It is our prayer that the Cabinet resolutions are met with a commitment to resources in order to ensure implementation as a matter of urgency to arrest the situation.

Municipal police should be deployed to enforce social distancing at all markets. On this point, we emphasise that municipal police have the capacity to enforce the same and not the military or Zimbabwe Republic Police.

Furthermore, we believe that spacing of market stalls makes it incumbent to speed up completion of decentralised markets, an initiative Viset has already stated its readiness to assist on, so as to decongest main markets.

On educative programmes and publicity campaigns, Viset again stands ready to assist urban councils with informative tools and other interventions in the spirit of cooperation that they have established in the fight against the pandemic.

VISET information and publicity department