Demolishing vending stalls ill-timed

Initiative for Social and Economic Transformation (Viset)’s attention has been drawn to a Press statement made by the provincial development co-ordinator (PDC) Tafadzwa Muguti announcing that the Harare provincial development directorate had resolved that all occupants of road servitudes have until June 7 2021 to vacate and remove all property and destroy any infrastructure erected in such places.

Among those affected are informal furniture-makers, sand, brick and quarry traders as well as car sales.

Viset views this directive as problematic on many fronts.

The time given between the issuance of the statement and implementation is too short, considering that traders need to find alternative places to operate from, which will require application for space.

Most of these operators have been paying council fees and are in possession of leases.

It is scant comfort that the Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission will deal with corrupt officials who authorised these leases.

This, in our view, is similar to the kid gloves approach employed on land barons where house owners had their dwellings demolished without compensation and to date no land baron has been convicted.

Viset exhorts the PDC to exercise restraint in the implementation of these measures to allow regularisation and relocation to take place without loss of property.

It is prudent to note that the informal sector is emerging from a prolonged lockdown period that decimated the little earnings they had and now is time for compassion to allow recovery to take place.

We also urge local authorities to speedily complete and develop alternative markets to house traders yearning for safe, secure and healthy workstations.

It should be stated that it is not any vendor’s desire to risk life and limb by trading on roadsides, but they do it out of necessity and lack of alternatives.

Viset