EDITORIAL COMMENT: Vendors’ saga: A stitch in time saves nine Vendors have taken over pavements in Harare

Vendors have taken over pavements in Harare

HAS the vendors’ saga turned into a behemoth that even angels want nothing to do with? We should by now be congratulating all the stakeholders for a job well done instead of moving round in circles.

The June 26 deadline that was initially given for all illegal vendors in Harare’s Central Business District has come and gone.

Different dates for decisive action also came and went, but the vendors have stayed put.

You look at them going about their business even in First Street, and it is evident that they have nothing to fear and they are not in any hurry of going anywhere anytime soon.

You don’t need a super IQ to realise that not only is nothing going to be done with finality, but that there doesn’t seem to be any political will at all to resolve the vendors’ saga.

Meanwhile, the fiscus is bleeding and that small tax base that was contributing something to the Treasury continues to dwindle, even as more people who are formally employed are facing the danger of being laid off because the vendors’ law seems to have overtaken the supreme law of the country. Apart from turning Harare’s CBD into an unsightly jungle, unlicensed vendors are also selling similar wares in front of shops that are legally registered, shops that have an obligation to pay tax, pay employees’ salaries and other amenities. And they sell identical goods at undercut prices. But the powers that be, the Zimbabwe Republic Police included have decided to turn a blind eye to such blatant breaking of the law.

When the first unlicensed vendors came into the CBD, it’s not as if they did it in the dead of night. They have been coming in broad daylight and using all sorts of excuses to sell their wares in the city centre. But when time came for authorities to realise that something drastic had to be done, it was just talk. Talk is cheap for a stitch in time saves nine.

The vendors’ saga requires decisive action. We are not saying that the relevant authorities resort to ruthless methods to get vendors to designated selling points, but all that the peace loving people of Harare who contribute toward the upkeep of the city are asking is for authorities to act meaningfully in order for the city to get back to its Sunshine City status.

Most of them think that they are vending in order to make ends meet during such challenging times, but their small beginnings must be improved upon. They must produce people who are not only economically empowered, but who are capable of doing business professionally, using the best business practices, meaning that they should be made aware that just like formal businesses, they should also contribute toward the creation of a formal economy.

They should be employers and employees who pay taxes, rentals, salaries and wages and licence fees, instead of being allowed to do as they wish.

If the authorities really realise how small the cake is getting, they would have the political will to relocate the vendors and also formalise their activities because it is an industry where millions of dollars exchange hands daily.

What is also worrying is that the second hand clothes business is burgeoning at an exponential rate, that same business that killed Zimbabwe’s textile industry, resulting in the closure of hundreds of factories and thousands losing their jobs. As reported by our sister weekly paper The Sunday Mail, there is a cartel of bigwigs (foreigners mostly), working in cahoots with Zimbabweans who are behind this menace.

They are also smuggling into the country new wares meaning that no duty is paid for all the wares spread on every open space in Harare’s CBD. What this means is that these are mafia-like cartels whose major objective is to bring Zimbabwe’s economy to its knees.

This is the broader picture that we expect Harare City Council and the relevant Government departments to see, instead of dragging their feet because 2018 is around the corner.

It does not augur well that the city should lose battles against commuter omnibuses, touts, rank marshals and now vendors. Someone is sleeping on the job and if they are not up to it, they should ship out. A city as large as Harare should also not be allowed to sit on a health time bomb when people appointed to bring sanity and make it a 21st Century city are earning thousands of dollars every month for doing absolutely nothing.

If they do not know, we will remind them once more: the state of the city is embarrassing and no amount of shifting the blame will change that. They should tell us why the vendors are still on the streets and being such a menace.

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