Risking life for sadza

health risk to patrons as the majority of makeshift restaurants are not registered and do not conform to health by-laws.
Natasha Muza, once a regular customer who was lured by the low prices and offers of variety at the makeshift restaurants, has vowed never to buy from unauthorised food outlets after falling seriously ill in a case of suspected food poisoning.
“I have stopped buying from these takeaways after I experienced a severe running stomach. I ate food from a takeaway along Harare Street. I realised that I was risking my life for a plate of sadza. Apart from unsanitary conditions that prevail in these takeaways I am not sure if people who are employed there are checked for communicable diseases.”
Tongai Chipfunde of Kuwadzana Extension said he stopped buying from the backyard restaurants after discovering human hair in his food.
“I used to buy food from these takeaways and on one of the occasions I was enjoying sadza and mazondo when I felt something like a thread in my mouth. I quickly plucked it out and, to my shock, it was human hair. I did not complain to anyone. I just blamed myself for eating at the wrong place,” Chipfunde said.
Harare Residents’ Trust lobby and advocacy officer Pretty Chabuda said the proliferation of backyard takeaways in the CBD was a result of high unemployment in the country.
“Against such a background residents resort to backyard takeaways as a survival strategy,” she said.
Community Working Group on Health executive director Itai Rusike urged owners of makeshift restaurants to adhere public health standards to avoid exposing their customers to disease.
“Several takeaways do not have ablution facilities like toilets and washing basins so people who buy food from these takeaways are forced to seek these services elsewhere,” Rusike said.
“The prevailing situation is exposing the public to diseases like diarrhoea, cholera and typhoid. Takeaway employees must be tested regularly for communicable diseases like tuberculosis because the public can easily catch the disease through consumption of food being handled by the infected person.
“We are going to carry out massive awareness campaigns to educate the public on the importance of buying food that is cooked and stored in a safe environment. Most importantly, the public must know the proper channels to follow when they seek recourse after falling victims.”
Although the exact number of backyard restaurants and food kiosks could not be obtained from city health authorities, new illegal food outlets are sprouting in the city and at shopping centres in the suburbs each one of them assured of a share of the growing numbers of clients looking for a meal at a low price.
Customers turn a blind eye to sanitary conditions of places where the restaurants are situated.
In some of the places one is ushered in by a swarm of flies hovering over open bins or around the often dingy buildings with discoloured walls.
Some do not have toilets or water taps, some utensils are rusty while the staff prepare and serve food without putting on the chef’s hat or closed shoes. 
Restaurant owners blame lack of money and property owners for the poor state of the buildings they operate in.
“As tenants we pay rentals to the property owners expecting them to prepare the rooms we use to suit the required purposes. The conditions that are prevailing in many restaurants can be attributed to the negligence of the landlords,” said a food outlet owner on condition of anonymity.
Another takeaway owner along Kaguvi Street, who identified herself as Mai Munya, cited poverty as the major contributing factor to the poor services being offered by several backyard takeaways.
“We are willing to run decent restaurants but our situation cannot allow us to do so. We cannot access loans from banks due to lack of collateral, so there is no way we can upgrade our standards without sufficient capital. We create these substandard makeshifts so as to survive and fend for our families,” Mai Munya lamented.
Earlier this year municipal police launched an operation “Closing down open air food outlets” to curb the spread of typhoid which had been detected in several residential areas.
Council’s efforts were targeted at residential areas while takeaways and restaurants in the backyards of several buildings in the Central Business District were spared.
City health authorities have issued several health warnings both to people who patronise the unregistered food outlets and those running the facilities.