Govt must not exclude informal sector players in policy formulation

THE exclusion of the informal sector players in economic governance results in the formulation of top-down policies that do not address the specific concerns of the youth.

For example, most policies governing the financial sector are not friendly to the informal sector players. To open bank accounts, banks require too much documentation which informal sector players may fail to produce, even if they might have the money to bank. The requirements are mostly a result of policy pronouncements, which makes policy a hindrance to accessing bank services by the informal sector players

To make matters worse, many countries, especially in the Sadc region, do not have appropriate legal and policy frameworks to protect and nurture the informal economy and to protect the youth as is the case in the formal sector.

Where there is some form of legal framework, such frameworks fail to address the needs of the youth and the power dynamics at play in the informal economy.

Lack of appropriate legal frameworks exposes the youth to all manner of abuses, particularly from law enforcement agencies and officials who show little or no concern for the very laws they are supposed to uphold. This is expressed in various ways including police brutality, corruption and double taxation

The Zimbabwean government continue to use colonial laws to manage the informal economy. These laws promote a perception that informal economy workers are illegal and a nuisance.

Further, these laws allow city authorities to “forcibly remove any nuisance, obstruction or encroachment on streets or any public place”. In 2017, the Local Government ministry threatened to deploy security forces to remove street vendors operating in the central business districts of major towns and cities in Zimbabwe.

There is need for a collective national acceptance of the informal sector as an employer of the youths in the country. Government has continued to lack the political will to align the relevant legislations to the new constitutional provisions.

Among other socio-economic rights, section 64 of the Constitution states that every person has the right to choose to do any profession, trade or occupation.

As a result, citizens’ rights continue to be violated. Meanwhile, the informal economy remains unco-ordinated and has not built effective solidarity structures to be able to engage and defend its source of livelihood and the alternative economy that has sustained the economy as a whole.

There is need for youths in the informal sector to build a co-ordinated voice in order to be heard by the solution holders at various levels.

The disenfranchisement and lack of co-ordination has exposed the group to land barons and political manipulation.

Politicisation has multiple effects, with allocation of operating marketing space on political party lines being exclusionary, thereby leading to loses of potential source of livelihoods.

Vendors Initiative for Social and Economic Transformation