Online Reporter
Raymond Jaravaza Sunday News Reporter
THERE is fresh chaos in Bulawayo’s central business district (CBD) after the banned push cart operators have resurfaced using wheelbarrows and supermarket trolleys to avoid arrest and confiscation of their equipment by the authorities.
In November 2023, the Bulawayo City Council (BCC) banned the use of push carts within the city centre under the BCC (clamping and tow away) by-laws 2023 which was approved by the Ministry of Local Government and Public Works.
The by-law is contained in Statutory Instrument (SI) 220 of 2023 which repeals SI 63 of 2015 in line with the Urban Councils Act Chapter 29:15.
“Pushcarts shall not be allowed in the part of the central business area bounded by Nelson Kutshwekhaya (NK) Ndlovu Avenue, Lobengula Street, Joseph Msika Avenue and R Mugabe Way, any violation will attract a level 1 fine plus impounding costs,” reads Section 7(5) of the by-law.
When the by law was introduced, it set the local authority on a collision course with push cart operators who eke out a living by transporting goods for vendors and other residents across the city for a small fee.
Municipal police have in the past been involved in cat and mouse games with the push cart operators who continued to defy the council order. However, a new trend has emerged where the operators, both young and the elderly, now use wheel barrows and supermarket trolleys to ferry goods for vendors and residents in the restricted areas of the Bulawayo city centre.
On Friday, a Sunday News crew spoke to a few operators who said switching to wheel barrows and supermarket trolleys was a tacit to survival without facing arrest and confiscation of their means of subsistence — the push carts.
One operator, who identified himself only as Chris said he lost a pushcart to municipal police together with a customer’s groceries and decided to shift to a wheelbarrow as a strategy.
The downside of using a wheelbarrow, however, is that it carries fewer loads compared to a push cart and is laborious when transporting goods from one end of the CBD to another.
“Push carts were designed to carry more goods and are easy to push around the city centre because of their big tyres compared to a wheelbarrow that can carry a handful of goods at a time.
“I started using a wheelbarrow about a year ago and municipal officers cannot arrest me because the new order bans push carts and not wheelbarrows,” said Chris.
He said some of his colleagues have turned to using supermarket trolleys but he avoids using them as doing so can get one in trouble with the rightful owners of the property.
“If for example you use a trolley that belongs to OK Supermarket and it has a sign bearing that name, you must avoid passing next to that shop because the security guards will confiscate it even when you are carrying a customer’s goods,” he said.
Another operator Mr Mlindisi Moyo said push carts have been his source of income for years but using them in the CBD had become untenable.
“Some customers now refuse to have their goods ferried using a push cart because they see how we are chased around by municipal police. I have a family to feed so I started using a wheelbarrow because although it is smaller, it does not get me in trouble with the municipal police,” said Mr Moyo.
The alternatives are less efficient and increase the time it takes to deliver goods, especially for vendors but Mr Moyo says staying at home is not an option.
“I could carry two bales of used clothes for vendors in one trip using a pushcart and charge US$3 but now I have to make multiple trips with a wheelbarrow.
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“It means I have to work more for the same amount but it is far better than staying at home,” he said.
Under the new by-laws, anyone found violating the regulations risks having the push cart impounded and may be liable to paying a fine.
Bulawayo United Residents Association (BURA) chairman Mr Winos Dube said the by law that forbids push carts from sections of the city centre is meant to bring sanity in the central business district and was long overdue.
“We cannot afford to be a lawless city where residents do as they please so the new by-law came at a time when push cart operators were becoming problematic in the city centre. We understand that residents have to make a living but they cannot do so while breaking the law.
“It’s unfortunate that the informal operators have found other means to circumvent the by-law by using wheel barrows and trolleys but council will have to find ways to stop the lawlessness from getting out of hand,” said Mr Dube.
