By Correspondent
Harare Mayor Jacob Mafume says vendors will all be removed before the 44th SADC Summit begins.
Mafume was speaking during a Full Council meeting on the preparedness of the city in hosting the event.
“Vendors are being removed from the streets.
“Roads are being marked and installation of streetlights is ongoing.
“Traffic lights have been revamped, buildings are being repainted, while security at recreational facilities is being improved.”
However, the removal of vendors from Harare streets has raised a lot of controversy.
Zimbabwe Chamber of Informal Economy secretary-general Wisbon Malaya said the vendors were being ill-treated.
“The vendors are being left behind and viewed as objects or garbage.
“Chasing vendors from their workplaces is further impoverishing the already poor.
“The implications are multiple especially this year when the country is in a drought disaster state,” he said.
Vendors Initiative for Social and Economic Transformation executive director Samuel Wadzai has also bemoaned the plans
“We saw the pronouncements by the government about its plans to remove vendors.
“Our view is that this is ill-informed.
However authorities are adamant that vendors have to go.
According to recently published by-laws, informal traders are not allowed to sell any goods or foodstuffs in the CBD without a valid permit or lease agreement.
The municipality has also banned pushcarts commonly referred to as zvingoro.
