Chronicle Editor
Patrick Chitumba, Midlands Bureau Chief
AS early as 5am hundreds of traders swarm Mtapa Market in Gweru to buy fresh produce delivered by farmers from nearby farms, others from as far as Gokwe.
The fresh produce includes tomatoes, onions and cabbage.
This time of the year there is also delivery of fruits like bananas and apples from Chipinge.
After buying fresh produce, vendors start repacking them as they wait for customers who start flocking the market from around 8.30am. At this time, others who sell clothes, footwear, food and traditional herbs join in.
A mixture of traders makes the market disorderly as they do not have permanent stalls at Mtapa market adjacent to Mtapa cemetery and Mtapa police station.
There are more than 400 vendors specialising in fresh produce and more than 600 selling different items.
The market has no running water, no ablution facilities, no vending stalls, no vending bays and the vendors leave their produce and wares in the open praying that no thieves steals them at night.
But because these vendors have no other source of income, they resort to a mobile toilet where they pay $10 per visit.
A health time bomb is ticking at this market and residents are expressing fear of disease outbreaks.
This is the market where traders from Kudzanayi long distance bus terminus and Kwa Kombayi fresh produce market were once housed.
Gweru City Council (GCC) demolished all vending stalls in the city centre and Kudzanayi long-distance bus terminus and relocated all vendors and small businesses to an open space adjacent to Mtapa cemetery. Structures at TM local bus terminus and other undesignated vending areas were demolished too.
The decision followed a Cabinet directive instructing all local authorities to remove vending and flea market sites in the CBD that have been trading under unhygienic environments as well as illegal structures as part of the multifaceted strategies to fight Covid-19.
A visit to the market yesterday revealed a sorry state of affairs.
Vendors were trading under the scotching sun and when it got windy, some tried to cover their wares to no avail.
However, lorries carrying river sand and pit sand arrived to offload amid wild cheers and ululation from some vendors as there are indications that vending stalls, water, and ablution blocks could soon be built at the area.
Mr Richard Moyo, the interim chairperson of the vendors said the trading environment was very bad.
He pleaded with GCC to quickly make sure that they have water, ablution blocks and vending stalls.
“From 5am, we are here buying fresh produce from farmers. The challenge we have is on water and ablution blocks. There are also no vending stalls which makes it hard in any weather condition. If it’s cold, if it’s hot or if it rains, we are affected. When we need toilets and it’s not good in this face of Covid-19,” said Mr Moyo.
He said initially when the vendors were moved from town, they thought they would be in that temporary state for less than six months.
“Now it’s a year and we are still out in the open. We want to be recognised, we want to contribute to the economy of the town but we are not being given that opportunity,” said Mr Moyo.
Another vendor Mr Mncedisi Sibanda said business was low since some farmers were not sure of their location.
“We were once taken to Ascot and then brought here. It is causing confusion to our farmers, some of whom come from very far. We have fresh produce coming from Chipinge, Gokwe and Chiwundura and we need a permanent area to work from,” he said.
Another vendor said when it rains, the place is a mess adding that they thank God that no major water borne disease has emanated from Mtapa.
“We just leave our things there at night and it’s unsafe for our customers and we all worry about thieves,” she said on condition of anonymity.
Mtapa residents and police officers said a health hazard is looming.
“There is congestion because the vendors and customers are all coming into the road. Motorists who have no business here struggle to drive past. The vendors use the bush close by, they don’t have water and it’s a health hazard looming here,” said Mrs Elizabeth Maguta from Mtapa suburb.
Gweru Mayor Councillor Josiah Makombe said the vendors were relocated to Mtapa where they are preparing space close to the cemetery where the local authority also intends to construct a new bus terminus.
“All the vendors were moved to Mtapa. The area that we have moved them to had been earmarked for the construction of a long-distance bus terminus. The set up in many towns and cities is that long distance bus terminuses are not in the CBD. So this is what we are also doing,” he said.
Cllr Makombe said they will build modern structures in town to accommodate a limited number of small businesses but the majority will remain in Mtapa.
“Construction has already started and we are hoping that we will complete preparing soon,” he said.
Cllr Makombe said part of the Kudzanayi long distance bus terminus will be converted into a Zupco rank for local routes.
“We have areas such as TM bus terminus where there were vending and flea market stalls. That rank has been permanently closed and all the vendors and public transport operators who were there have been permanently removed.
At Kudzanayi long distance bus terminus we have also removed all vending and flea market stalls and transformed the area into the Zupco bus terminus. It used to be a Zupco bus terminus before and now we are handing the terminus back to the public transport operator because it has resumed its operations in local routes,” he said.
Government and the local authority are working on the smart city design.
The smart city design will ensure that Kudzanayi only accommodates buses, travelers and traders selling refreshments only and the terminus will also have clean ablution facilities.
Traders selling other things like clothes and fresh produce will be accommodated at Mtapa market.
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