Pictures: Vendors refuse to vacate CBD

By
Newsday
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4
1044

STREET vendors in Kadoma have vowed to continue operating at undesignated sites in the central business district saying they would only move out after government has provided them with formal employment.

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Speaking to NewsDay after a stakeholders’ meeting in the city last Thursday, National Vendors’ Union of Zimbabwe (Navuz) chairman Sten Zvorwadza said there was need for vendors and retailers to coexist until the economic environment has stabilised.

National Vendors Union chairman Sten Zvorwadza addresses vendors in Kadoma on April 23.
National Vendors Union chairman Sten Zvorwadza addresses vendors in Kadoma on April 23.

“We discussed with the confederation before and we agreed in principle that vending has become an unavoidable reality so the process of removing vendors from street pavements should be agreed and modelled to achieve the harmony that the nation desires,” Zvorwadza said.

Clever Chishanu (55), a vendor in Kadoma, expresses his opinion at a National Vendors Union meeting in Kadoma on Thursday, April 23. Chishanu has never been formerly employed in his life and says he has been vending for over 30 years.
Clever Chishanu (55), a vendor in Kadoma, expresses his opinion at a National Vendors Union meeting in Kadoma on Thursday, April 23. Chishanu has never been formerly employed in his life and says he has been vending for over 30 years.

He urged local authorities countrywide to desist from using brutal force to push vendors off the streets.

“As much as retailers want more profit, vendors need survival so local authorities should strive to attain sustainable results and avoid adamantly defying tenets of the supreme law,” he added.

Memebers of the National Vendors Union during a meeting held in Kadoma on April, 23.
Memebers of the National Vendors Union during a meeting held in Kadoma on April, 23.

Navuz is currently carrying out nationwide programmes urging retailers and vendors to coexist.

Memebers of the National Vendors Union during a meeting held in Kadoma on April, 23.
Members of the National Vendors Union during a meeting held in Kadoma on April, 23.

This follows complaints by retailers that some vendors were blocking pavements and shop entrances.

4 COMMENTS

  1. ‘Until govt has provided them with formal employment’… These guys are clearly dreaming.

  3. Mupedza Nhamo and Mbare musika (which are very vibrant and lucrative) are some examples of strategic ways to curb vending in the CBD while promoting economic growth.

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