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Pamela Shumba Senior Reporter
VENDORS yesterday protested against the confiscation of their wares by the Bulawayo City Council as the local authority’s operation aimed at restoring sanity in the city entered its second day.
The operation is in line with the government’s directive for local authorities countrywide to restore order in the country’s cities and towns.
Municipal police were involved in running battles with vendors in the city’s Central Business District (CBD) yesterday and some vendors claimed that they were assaulted.
Council police confiscated wares and push carts popularly known as “Scanias”.
The vendors marched to the mayor’s office and demanded an audience with him.
Councillor Martin Moyo, the mayor, referred them to the council’s Dugmore vending offices along Basch Street.
Vendors told The Chronicle that there was corruption in the allocation of vending bays, as council officials demanded bribes in exchange for bays.
They said council officials at Dugmore offices ignored them.
“It’s shocking that the council is claiming to have allocated vending bays because that’s not true. We paid registration fees and we’ve been on their waiting list for months. We always go to their offices to check and they tell us that there are no vacant bays at the moment. The problem is that there are council officials who are accepting bribes from individuals who pay for several bays and lease them out for exorbitant rentals,” said Sithokozile Ndlovu, one of the vendors who lost her second-hand clothes along Jason Moyo Street and Fifth Avenue.
Fifth Avenue is a designated trading area for those selling farm produce only.
Ndlovu said municipal police were also confiscating wares from their storerooms, even though they were not selling.
“These people are cruel. They invaded our storerooms and took clothes that were not displayed on the streets. I arrived at the market at about 6AM and was shocked to find nothing in our storeroom. Before I could find out what was happening, I saw the police harassing people and taking away their wares,” she added.
Another vendor, Simbarashe Gwavava said the operation was bringing misery to their families as they had lost their jobs.
“We understand that we have to operate from designated points but the situation on the ground is that those vending bays are non-existent. They’re being set aside for people who pay bribes to council officials and then lease them at exorbitant rentals,” said Gwavava.
“Most of us here lost jobs but we still need to feed our children, pay rentals, bills and school fees. There is no way we can wait for bays to be availed to us while we sit at home because the city council is not willing to make the bays available,” said Gwavava.
He called on the city council to computerise their system to avoid multiple ownership of vending bays.
In response to the vendors graft accusations, the city council’s senior public relations officer Nesisa Mpofu said: “We’re not aware of the corruption, but vendors are free to approach us and make a formal complaint so that we investigate the matter. They should also give us names of officials alleged to be taking bribes from people.”
On Monday, Mpofu said as at June 26, 2015, the council had 6,240 vacant bays around the city, which should be utilised by vendors.
She urged vendors to adhere to the council’s by-laws, saying the council would not hesitate to take appropriate action against those found on the wrong side of the law.
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