By Own Correspondent| The Chitungwiza community development network (CCDN) has expressed concern at recent developments which has seen the demolition of informal business structures in the satellite town situated 25 kilometers away from Harare.
In what has been likened to former presidwnt Robert Mugabe’s infamous “Operation Murambatsvina”, government has demolished illegal structures among them small businesses operating in communities.
This follows a crackdown on illegal vendors in the central business district of most major cities and towns.
Said the CCDN in a statement:
“The CCDN is appalled and concerned at the ongoing decimation of thousands of livelihoods in the informal sector through forced demolitions of informal business structures and summary evictions from marketplaces and workspaces in a government sanctioned operation which began this week in Harare and Chitungwiza.
Since Monday 28 January 2019, truckloads of police in riot gear have gone around shopping centres in chitungwiza ordering informal business people to demolish structures housing their livelihoods and vacate marketplaces and workspaces.
State media reports indicate that the operation is state sanctioned through a govt directive given in 2018 ordering local authorities to conduct urban cleanups and demolish illegal structures. The timing of the operation, coming after the #Shutdown protests has led to suspicions that it is an extension of the govt crackdown targeting the opposition’s urban support base.
CCDN mourns the loss of livelihoods and attendant socio economic rights occassioned by this operation.
We commiserate with the affected informal entrepreneurs and call on them to remain strong and resilient like the biblical water reeds (tsanga) that ” fall when the river current rises and rise when the river current falls”.
We call on the govt to empathise with the millions of women children and youth in Harare metropolitan province (90 % of total population) who eked out a miserable living from the informal economy. These forced demolitions will certainly condemn them to abject poverty .
CCDN notes with regret that councillors who are our elected representatives in the sphere of local government were not consulted before this decision was taken. We also note with dismay that councillors remain in the face of those onslaught.
The Zimbabwean constitution of 2013 and many international statutes such as the african charter on human and peoples rights, to which Zimbabwe is a signatory ringfence and promote the right to participate in socio-economic activities. This operation dubbed Murambatsvina 2, goes against the spirit and letter of our constitution and human rights conventions.
Thriving businesses in the informal manufacturing sector in Chitungwiza with trades such as carpentry (furniture ), welding (window frames tools) upholstery (sofas) vehicle repairs spraypainting mobile money (Ecocash) catering (sadza gango) currency dealers (changemoney) retail ( tuckshops and vendors) have been decimated almost overnight due to the government’s directive .
It has taken many years and hardwork for these entrepreneurs to build these businesses which are being razed to the ground.
To ensure that their families survive the demolitions/ evictions and the deepening economic crisis in Zimbabwe, we call on the affected entrepreneurs and residents to continue operating their businesses from the safety of their homes.
We call on the Chitungwiza community to continue supporting these hardworking people by giving them business as usual.
CCDN also notes that the ubiquitous market stalls by the roadside (Musika) has been the worst affected by the current demolitions. The changes in the operating environment for informal entrepreneurs necessitates a change in the way we conceive the market as a physical space (musika) to a mentality that sees the market as many platforms where demand meets supply.
Informal business people should specifically consider creating virtual markets in the form of whatsapp groups to buy/sell specific products and services.
We advise the newly elected chitungwiza town council to mitigate the suffering of its constituents by quickly developing and providing regularized market stalls and working spaces (home industries) to the affected entrepreneurs residents and youth.
End;