admin
Vongai Chinjeke
Features Correspondent
Noise without a rhythm, heaps of bales, some dangling from hangers, dusty environment, uncollected garbage, all compete for attention in one place.
The roadside area surrounding Mupedzanhamo flea market has become an eyesore as each day numbers of vendors swell.
It now takes more than 25 minutes for a driver to move just 3km down Remembrance Drive, a major highway.
The trip is supposed to take less than five minutes if the road is clear of vendors.
Mupedzanhamo, famous for vendors selling second hand clothes and bales, commonly referred to as mabhero, has now been turned into a car park.
This has left hordes of traders that used to sell their products stranded, now occupying the space surrounding outside of the market.
“Mwana wese! mwana wese!,” a male vendor only identified as Bla Tino selling children clothes is heard shouting at the top of his voice.
Almost everyone is shouting. It is all pandemonium, only the loudest can grab the attention of hordes of customers that throng the area on a daily basis.
The noise is too loud. Even those resting at the nearby Pioneer cemetery would probably be disturbed in their eternal slumber.
A few months ago, illegal structures were demolished at the site, largely to combat rising infection rates of Covid-19 and to create a properly managed market environment.
There was a bit of sanity, both human and vehicular traffic was flowing smoothly. One would sigh a relief.
But alas, that was short-lived, illegal structures have mushroomed, albeit more than before, erected covering the whole area in the Mbare flats area opposite the Mupedzanhamo market.
One stitch saves many, as the old adage goes by, the menace should have been easily dealt with, but council chose to watch while the illegal traders slowly, but in numbers, invaded the area.
Proposals have been tabled for years about the upgrading of the market stall, but no action is being taken.
Just a stone’s throw away from the market, the council seems to have sold the nation a dummy after proposing the much hyped $30 million multi-purpose business complex at Shawasha Grounds in Mbare.
It remains a pipe dream – the designated area for the complex has been fenced for years, but nothing is taking place inside.
The proposed state-of-the-art flea market was earmarked to accommodate 6 000 informal traders.
Nearly five years now, nothing is there to show for it except the perimeter fence covering the ground.
It has all been talk, but no action from the local authority, while the city fathers are busy corruptly lining up their pockets, leaving out their core mandate — service delivery.
The illegal traders have over the past few days been pouring into the Mupedzanhamo area, clogging roads and making even pedestrian traffic a grave nightmare.
There is nothing in the way of effective action by Harare City Council to enforce licensing and public health laws.
Enforcement agents are always roaming around the area, leaving the illegal traders going about with their business at ease.
Some illegal structures, including wooden ones, are being erected, encroaching the road servitudes on both sides of Remembrance Drive and Cripps Road, including traffic lights at the intersection.
Heavy and open trucks were observed parked along Remembrance Drive, giving motorists a hard time to navigate past, also risking lives of the traders after incidents of death were witnessed along the road in the past, caused by speeding vehicles.
While the illegal traders are solely to blame for endangering their lives, the local authority is equally to blame for failing to provide a safer working place.
Apart from its long term plan to erect Shawasha Complex to accommodate the traders, in the short to medium term, the council also had an opportunity to decongest the market.
That has also been a mammoth task for the local authority, which has come under spotlight amid revelations that it is struggling to complete another much hyped Coca-Cola market.
The market situated at the corner of Seke and Dieppe roads set to accommodate about 1 000 traders has been incomplete for nearly three years over a few touch ups required to finish off the project.
Only flooring of the stall and roofing less than five metal sheets is required, but the ineptitude MDC-led council seems to be reluctant to invest in it despite the top bosses allegedly splashing millions on luxurious stuff.
The opening of the stall would have gone a long way in decongesting the clogged Mupedzanhamo market area, where a section of a middle pavement along the road just after the Magaba flyover has also been turned into a car park.
The car park being used by both traders and patrons, is causing massive traffic congestion in the area. One of the vendors who refused to be identified called for the reopening of Mupedzanhamo flea markets.
“Mupedzanhamo should be reopened. We have been selling from the roadside and it’s very hot. It is now raining making it unbearable to work. “We cannot sell wet clothes to the customer. The sheds in the Mupedzanhamo market keep our clothes dry,” said the vendor.
Vendors selling their wares in push carts, selling their products in the middle of the road, also worsen the confusion at Mupedzanhamo surroundings.
The city’s top bosses seem to have either given up or just took a wait and see approach over the menace.
Harare City Council acting town clerk Engineer Phakamile Mabhena Moyo said the local authority was battling manpower shortages to enforce order at Mupedzanhamo.
“We have been removing the illegal traders, but they keep coming back,” he said. “At the moment, we do not have permanent manpower that can enforce order at the area, but with the available resources we will make sure we maintain order on a continual basis.”
A tangible solution is what is required before a disaster occurs.
In the event that another Covid-19 wave hits the country, Mupedzanhamo may be a potential super spreader if it remains unattended.
If there is something that the MDC-led Harare City Council has failed over the years, it is to simply bring sanity at the market and its surroundings. It is either they have thrown in the towel, they incompetent or they are simply benefiting from the chaos.
Only real solutions are needed to tackle the Mupedzanhamo menace and the Government should intervene urgently to assist the city officials who have failed to restore order in the area.
Online Reporter