Online Reporter
Dorothy N Sithole
MASVINGO Urban Ward 10 Councillor Sekerai Manyanga has condemned municipal police for confiscating vendors’ goods without accountability, describing the practice as unjust and undignified.
Speaking during a full council meeting this week, Councillor Manyanga criticised enforcement officers for allegedly returning incomplete consignments to vendors after fines had been paid.
“If a vendor had 50 watermelons when apprehended, they might only get 40 back after paying the fine,” he told the chamber. “So where do the missing 10 go? Who is accounting for them? Who benefits from a system that punishes the poor and cannot explain its own paperwork?”
He said the raids criminalise survival and deepen the hardship faced by families that rely on vending for rent, school fees and food.
“They are not criminals. They are mothers, fathers, and young people trying to support their families,” he said.
Councillor Manyanga urged council to replace heavy-handed raids with structured regulation, proposing designated vending zones, affordable annual permits and joint monitoring committees involving council and vendor associations.
“You cannot preach Vision 2030 while harassing the informal sector that feeds this city,” he said. “Regulate, don’t humiliate.”
His remarks received backing from Patriotic Vendors4ED, whose national chairperson, ESawu Jere, described vendors under the Second Republic as “a well-organized and influential force” involved in city clean-up campaigns, charity work and activities aligned with Vision 2030.
“Leaders like Cllr Manyanga, who firmly stand for vendors, are leaders to vote for,” said Jere.
Jere also credited President Emmerson Mnangagwa as “the first President to recognize vendors as organized people with a role in national development.”
Councillor Manyanga’s intervention comes amid growing debate in urban centres over how councils can balance order, revenue collection and the livelihoods of informal traders.
For many residents and vendors, his stance signals a possible shift in local authority policy — from punitive enforcement towards recognising vendors as important economic stakeholders.
As councils continue to grapple with congestion, litter and budget constraints, Councillor Manyanga challenged local authorities to craft by-laws that support orderly urban management while protecting the livelihoods of thousands of households that depend on informal trade.
derick.khumalo