Government Not only Wrong But
Hypocritical.
Issue Date: 2 June 2015
The Committee of the Peoples Charter condemns the
recent announcement by local government minister Ignatius Chombo declaring a
seven day ultimatum for all vendors to leave the central business districts of
all cities and towns. The minister issued this statement with the endorsement
and contribution of the Joint Operations Command (JOC), a development that is
not only inappropriate but also unnecessary in order to pursue a democratic
solution to a perceived problem.
In their responses, and correctly so, the Zimbabwe
Informal Sector Organisation (ZISO) and the National Vendors Union Zimbabwe
(NAVUZ) have described this undemocratic intent on the part of government
action as tantamount to treating a symptom and not a cause.
They further asserted that however one views the issue
of vending in central business districts, bringing in JOC and the spectre of forcible
removal, is not going to solve the economic challenges such as unemployment and
endemic poverty that are faced by many Zimbabweans.
The CPC wholly agrees with the views of ZISO and NAVUZ
and in solidarity also wishes to highlight the following:
The issue of informal trade is now an intrinsic
reality of Zimbabwe’s political economy. Wishing it away by threatening
to forcibly move vendors from our cities and towns using both the police
and army is tragically reminiscent of the repressive tendencies of the colonial
state. The latter sought to keep city/town centers not only as racial but also
economic exclusion zones from the majority poor.
It is also intended action that reflects the
repressive tendencies of our current post independence government. It has
retained the economic apparatus and framework of the colonial state in limiting
the right of citizens to earn a decent living through elitist and neo-liberal
economic policies that favour the politically connected rich at the expense of
the majority poor. From economic blueprints such as the Economic Structural
Adjustment Programmes of the 1990s through to the present day ZimAsset, it is
clear that government is directly responsible for the current and dire national
economic state of affairs.
These policies have over the years led to massive
private sector retrenchments, lack of social service delivery, unprecedented
high costs of living, repression of trade unions and the introduction of an
economic patronage system based on political affiliation. Their end
results have been the current situation in which thousands of our country’s
citizens having no choice but to undertake informal economic activities while
millions others resort to seeking greener pastures in the Diaspora.
For government, through JOC, to want to arbitrarily
remove vendors from the CBD is an exercise in not only political
repression but crass hypocrisy.
The CPC is of the firm view that the City of Harare
and other urban local authorities have not done enough to seek an amicable
solution to the opportunities and challenges that come with the expansion of
the informal sector within their cities. Furthermore, central government,
through the ministry of local government, by calling for forcible removal of
vendors without a comprehensive and people centered alternative plan
is demonstrating the extent to which it is not grounded in the realities
confronting a majority of urban residents countrywide.
It is for this reason that the CPC is convinced that
government is absolutely wrong on seeking solutions in forcible removal of
vendors. What is it that must be hidden about the lived realities of the people
of Zimbabwe and from whom must it be hidden?
There are better solutions in engagement and dialogue,
processes which the relevant associations of vendors and the informal sector
have already agreed to. Businesses in the CBD must also agree that their lack
of capacity to deliver and fill in the market gap that is now occupied by the
informal sector are also reflective of larger economic challenges than mere
occupation of street corners.
Above all else, local and central government are
obliged not to act in a rash and arbitrary fashion. They must address economic
challenges holistically and with an intention to address them as opposed to
excluding the poor majority from their right to earn a living. This
includes democratic engagement in good faith with all residents, vendors
unions, businesses and addressing key causes of the desperate poverty that has
made it so necessary for citizens to hawk small goods on street pavements.
Information Department
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