The Bulawayo Vendors and Traders Organisation (BVTO) has called for urgent action to create safe and properly designated trading spaces after a commuter omnibus reportedly lost control and rammed into pedestrians and vendors in the city centre, killing at least two people and injuring 12 others.
In a statement issued on Thursday, the organisation said it had learnt “with profound shock and sadness of the tragic loss of two informal traders and the injury of twelve others” following the crash at the intersection of 6th Avenue and Lobengula Street, a busy area where vendors operate and commuters gather.
BVTO conveyed “its deepest condolences to the bereaved families and loved ones during this painful time” and wished those injured “a speedy and full recovery.”
The association said the incident highlighted the risks faced daily by people working in the informal economy.
“This heartbreaking incident once again exposes the extreme vulnerability faced daily by informal economy workers who earn their livelihoods in unsafe, unplanned, and congested public spaces,” the statement read.
Local media reports said the commuter omnibus, believed to have suffered brake failure, veered into pedestrians and market stalls in the central business district. Emergency services ferried the injured to hospital while police launched investigations into the cause of the crash.
BVTO said although road accidents can result from multiple factors, the “continued absence of safe, decent, and properly designated trading spaces significantly increases the risk to lives and livelihoods.”
The organisation urged authorities to fast-track the completion of market infrastructure projects, including the long-awaited Egodini Mall, and called for a city-wide decongestion dialogue involving the Bulawayo City Council, central government, transport authorities and traders’ representatives.
“Proactive planning, enforcement that is humane and consultative, and the provision of alternative trading spaces can meaningfully reduce the likelihood and severity of such tragic incidents,” the group said.
BVTO also appealed for solidarity from government, the private sector and civil society to support affected families, noting that many of the victims were breadwinners. It pledged “full commitment to work with all partners willing to offer any form of support, material, financial, psychosocial, or otherwise.”
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