The vendors will be back . . .

Isdore Guvamombe Reflections
Back in the village in the land of milk, honey and dust or Guruve, there is no one who became rich because he broke a holiday and the village elders with cotton tuft hair say no one became fat because he broke a fast.

The Government this week came out guns blazing over vendors who, of late, had indeed flooded the streets of Harare, selling everything except goats, sheep and cattle. But if the intervention had delayed by a day or two, this villager is sure someone would have sold goats, sheep and cattle on First Street, without much trouble.

While vending is permissible in cities across the world, what had started happening in Harare was extraordinary.

There were more vendors than people doing other business. There were more vendors than customers.

Back in the village, Karitundundu, the ageless autochthon of wisdom and knowledge would say, the city was now looking like a madman’s luggage: shapeless, dirty and smelly. Kunge mukwende we benzi!

It had become an eyesore. But this villager, having been partially brought up and schooled from funds raised through vending, must admit that the goods had also become extra cheap to a point where it was doubtful if there was any profit being made by the vendors.

Of course, there was no longer need to enter a conventional shop. What for?

But this villager is not convinced that the City of Harare has the capacity to sustain the operation even if Central Government helps them relocate the vendors to designated areas.

Does anyone remember the hullabaloo over Operation Murambastvina? All the demolished houses and tuckshops are back. Go to the locations and see how the tuckshops crept back in the eyes of these goat skinners we call our City Fathers. The Government had done well cleaning up the city but how these so-called squatters came back, the goat skinners know better.

Does anyone remember the running battles with touts? There was blood and thunder, which we can safely call much ado about nothing. Nothing! Mandimbandimba and all are back at every bus terminus in and around Harare. The touts continue to harass commuters and nothing happens. What is it with our council? It cannot sustain an operation.

There was indigenisation of shops. What happened? It fizzled out as soon as it started. Who owns the shops today?

The city council and the police are responsible for many such operations that are not sustained. Our people know that very well. They take advantage.

There was once an operation to arrest those who cheated traffic lights, generally referred to – in village lingo – as robots. It gave many drivers a headache for a few days. It was never more than a week. Then like other projects, it fizzled out. Today the traffic cheating check is only being done by conmen masquerading as police.

There was a blitz on kerb crawlers. Men were being arrested in the Avenues area in Harare for picking up street corner prostitutes and the list was published in this newspaper.

Do you remember that dear reader? Wives used to rush to grab The Herald copy of the day early in the morning to check on their husbands. The operation sent many men scampering but once again it did not last.

The kombi drivers that are causing chaos and commotion in the central business district have fought many bloody battles with the national police and municipal police. It is never sustained. The drivers still do what they want in town and cause heart and headaches to other drivers. They have killed innocent pedestrians. Why?

The age limit of kombi drivers: Who still looks for that? You see young kombi drivers, the age of school boys, still milking behind their ears, straddling the lanes and weaving through normal traffic and even creating side roads where there are no roads. Who cares?

Drive along any road that leads into town at peak hours and see the traffic jungle. This villager is so disturbed that he even sees some police details in uniform, comfortably stashed on the front seat of a kombi with a daredevil driver weaving recklessly through normal flowing traffic or on side roads. The police detail enjoys the trip and utters no word.

This villager can go on and on to issues like jaywalking and litter bugs. Why can’t we sustain an operation? The vendors will come back. Mark my word.

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