HARARE mayor Jacob Mafume has warned members of the municipal police that inconsistent enforcement of regulations will not be tolerated, adding that vendors who defy rules will face repercussions.
He said the move was aimed at striking a balance between vendors’ livelihoods and the need for order in the city.
Addressing journalists at Town House recently, Mafume said vendors who defied city by-laws would face tough action for breaking rules.
“Anyone who feels defiant will also find us matching their defiance. It is not because we do not know what to do to deal with the situation. But we believe that residents are thinking people,” Mafume said.
“(We hope) that there will be some self-regulation. We cannot be hard all the time. But when you then force us to be hard, at the end of the day, you as the resident and as the performer or practitioner of whatever you’re practising, you’re the one who cries.”
He said the city was set to introduce designated vending areas in a bid to regain control of streets overwhelmed by informal traders.
“I think we have to have a systematic approach to dealing with the vendors. Very soon, they will overwhelm the whole city if we are not careful. Yes, everyone has a right to earn a living.
“But what we are going ... do is we are going to have to create designated areas where it is allowed to vend and maybe designated streets and the conditions that you can vend.
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“And also we need to deal with the night time business. I think it’s the biggest problem (every year), because they then take over the whole city during the night and are selling without any clear regulations. So we will progressively deal with that.”
Mafume said formal businesses were complaining about unfair competition, harassment and customers being unable to access shops due to uncontrolled vending.
“There are certain areas where under the current circumstances we will not allow vending whatsoever.
“There are certain areas that maybe there’s been a laxity in the application of the law, because people say they want to earn a living, you are being too harsh, and so on and so forth.
“But we’ve got to come up with a balance so that we don’t get overwhelmed. Businesses are complaining, they are moving out of town, their customers can’t shop. People are selling the same things that are being sold by shops.
“They are being harassed, people cannot walk ... We need to create a safe city for people to be able to move on the streets.”
Mafume indicated that Harare was recently ranked one of the safest cities globally and vowed to maintain the status so as to boost tourism and safety.
“Currently, even as it is, it was declared on the world indices that were issued out this year that it’s one of the safest cities for a person to be. Let’s keep it at that.
“We need to improve on that atmosphere, increase our tourism, increase the safety and reduce the worry so that more people can visit.”
