×
NewsDay

AMH is an independent media house free from political ties or outside influence. We have four newspapers: The Zimbabwe Independent, a business weekly published every Friday, The Standard, a weekly published every Sunday, and Southern and NewsDay, our daily newspapers. Each has an online edition.

Gweru meets JOC over vendors

News
GWERU City Council recently met with members of the provincial Joint Operations Command (JOC) to deliberate on the plight of vendors and the security threats they pose to society, Southern Eye has learnt.

GWERU City Council recently met with members of the provincial Joint Operations Command (JOC) to deliberate on the plight of vendors and the security threats they pose to society, Southern Eye has learnt.

By Stephen Chadenga

Mayor Charles Chikozho said the meeting ended inconclusively, with both parties pledging to further consult on the issue of vendors.

“We met with members of the JOC and discussed issues ranging from the rampant cutting down of trees, which we managed to conclude,” he told a recent full council meeting.

“But the issue of illegal vendors remained unresolved and was not concluded.”

Chikozho said they would continue engaging vendors until a lasting solution is found, adding that council had set up legal points where the hawkers can conduct their businesses.

“There is need for organised vending system like other cities and not the current scenario, where people are on pavements and at every street corner in the city,” he said.

Since the beginning of the year, Gweru vendors, who ply their trade at illegal points in the city, have resisted calls by the local authority to vacate the sites, saying they were forced into those places by economic hardships.

This is despite council issuing a series of ultimatums advising vendors to leave the places or risk being forcibly evicted.

Some of the vendors have been engaging in running battles with municipal police and, at times, have used weapons such as stones, as the street trade wars intensify.

In March this year, vendors vowed to resist evictions and said they were ready for a “bloodbath”.