Online Reporter
Trust Freddy
Herald Correspondent
GOVERNMENT has ordered illegal middlemen, popularly known as space barons or “magombiro”, to vacate the Glen View Area 8 Home Industry Complex or face stern action.
This comes as authorities move to restore order at the informal manufacturing hub, which is now infamous for recurring fire outbreaks, at least thrice every year, affecting families that eke out a living from the place.
The warning follows allegations that leadership wrangles and extortion syndicates within management committees at the complex were fuelling the recurring fire outbreaks.
Deputy Minister of Women Affairs, Community, Small and Medium Enterprises Development Kiven Mutimbanyoka issued the warning during an assessment tour of the complex following another fire outbreak on Sunday that destroyed machinery and raw materials worth thousands of dollars.
While expressing concern over the repeated losses incurred by traders, Cde Mutimbanyoka said the Government would no longer tolerate disorder and exploitation at the site.
“I want to warn them through this discussion that we are going to pounce heavily on them,” he said.
“They have to start running before we get there, because once we do so, they will only have themselves to blame.”
He accused the alleged space barons of profiting from infrastructure they did not invest in while exploiting genuine traders.
Deputy Minister Mutimbanyoka said that although the facility falls under the City of Harare, Government would intervene if the local authority fails to act.
“This place belongs to the City of Harare, and if the City of Harare fails to rein in the space barons, we as Government, are going to come through and will rein them in and make sure that our people are given back the dignity that they so deserve.”
Government is now assembling a multi-ministerial taskforce involving the Ministries of Women Affairs, Local Government, Home Affairs, National Housing and the City of Harare to oversee the reorganisation of the complex.
The initiative is expected to introduce designated and regulated workspaces where registered traders will be accountable for their allocated operating areas.
“What we are saying is, it is now our responsibility as Government to ensure that our people are well organised, and we will help put them in that particular order we need,” Deputy Minister Mutimbanyoka added.
He also revealed plans to attract investment and modernise the more than 20-year-old site into a safer and more organised industrial hub.
Despite operating under difficult conditions, the Deputy Minister commended traders for continuing production, noting that products manufactured at Glen View Area 8 were being sold locally and internationally.
Government intervention, he said, would also focus on constructing permanent structures to minimise fire risks.
“Once order prevails in this particular space, you are going to see that eventually we will say goodbye to all the fire that has been burning down the machinery and all the goods,” he said.
Traders at the complex appealed for Government assistance in resolving leadership disputes, saying multiple factions were claiming authority at the site.
“We don’t even know who our leader is. Three different factions are claiming the chairmanship. By day, they stand at the gates extorting money, and whenever they clash, mysterious fires break out,” Mr Rodrick Chigunwe said.
“What hurts the most is that these people don’t own a single piece of furniture here; they risk absolutely nothing.
“We would much rather pay the Harare City Council or the Government directly, because the money we are forced to give these individuals is doing nothing, but fuelling the spirit of arson.”
