Bulawayo vendors have challenged the 6pm closing time imposed on traders in the central business district (CBD), saying it cuts into the period when they receive most of their customers and threatens the livelihoods of people who depend on vending for survival.
Siphatisiwe Mpala, a vendor operating in the CBD, said many traders only began getting significant business in the late afternoon after spending much of the day dealing with municipal police.
“The 6PM knock-off time is a problem for us because most of us only start getting serious business around 4PM. During the day we are constantly being disturbed by municipal police, and by the time we settle down to trade properly, it is already late in the afternoon.
“6PM is therefore too early because that is when customers are actually coming into town after work and looking for goods. If we are forced to close at 6PM, we are losing the most important part of our trading day.
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“We are not saying there should be no regulations, but the authorities need to consider the realities of how people trade and when customers are available,” Mpala said.
Another vendor, Sitshengisiwe Ndlovu, said the restrictions could affect people who depend entirely on vending to support themselves and their families, particularly those without formal employment or another source of income.
“Vending is how we survive and support our families, so when our trading hours are reduced, it directly affects our livelihoods. Most of us do not have formal employment or another source of income that we can rely on at the end of the month.
“This is the work we have chosen because it is what puts food on the table, pays school fees, rent and other household expenses.
“If we are told to stop trading at 6PM, we lose the opportunity to make money during the time when many of our customers are coming from work.
“We understand that there must be regulations, but those regulations should also take into account that vendors are people who are trying to survive. We cannot simply close at 6PM and expect our families to survive when we have not made enough money during the day,” Ndlovu said.
The complaints follow a government directive requiring vendors operating in CBDs across Zimbabwe to stop trading at 6pm, while those in residential areas can operate until 8pm.
The measures are part of preparations for nationwide clean-up campaigns and efforts to improve waste management.
Bulawayo City Council director of health services, Dr Edwin Sibanda, said litter posed health risks to vendors, residents and the wider public, depending on the type and quantity of waste generated.
“Litter in whatever form or quantity poses a health hazard directly, indirectly, immediately or long term depending on type and quantity.
“To vendors the organic waste may support fly breeding and flies transmit diseases; to residents the litter generated and dumped indiscriminately creates smells and flies and plastic litter blocks road drainages leading to flash flooding.
“To public health apart from being an eyesore some street people burn waste and generate fumes and endanger life and property,” Sibanda said.
Sibanda said the council had engaged vendor associations to improve waste disposal, although unregistered traders remained a challenge.
“Vendor associations have been engaged with a view to improve waste disposal. However this refers to registered vendors, the illegal ones remain a challenge,” Sibanda said.
He said regulated trading hours were necessary to allow the council to provide services such as waste collection and cleaning.
“All registered businesses ought to have trading times so as to allow for services such as waste collection and cleaning of trading areas,” Sibanda said.
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