THE MDC-T-dominated Masvingo City Council (MCC) has given up on illegal vendors and stopped chasing them away from the streets, following several unsuccessful blitzes.
By Tatenda Chitagu
Mayor Hubert Fidze admitted yesterday that the exercise had come to naught, as some of the vendors had turned militant and chased after municipal police officers.
“We are understaffed when it comes to the municipal police,” he said.
“They were overpowered.
“We even sought the help of the police, but that did not help.
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“We have aborted the operation because there is also politics at play.”
Residents’ representative group, Masvingo Residents and Ratepayers’ Alliance (Murra) said council should, instead, expend its energies on creating strategic vending sites, where the traders could relocate, not sites that were in downtown, where nobody would buy from.
“Vending is a right, given that there is unprecedented unemployment in the country,” Murra spokesperson, Godfrey Mtimba said.
“The council should rather create conducive and strategic vending sites.
“The reason why the vendors do not want to go to the designated areas is because they are not strategic and nobody will come there to buy from them.”