Vendors operating on 5th Avenue and N Nkomo Street are imploring the Bulawayo City Council (BCC) to return their wares, reportedly confiscated by council police on Tuesday afternoon.
The vendors allege that the council police violently raided them, assaulted some— including the elderly— and denied them the option to pay a fine to repossess their wares.
The vendors convened a meeting on Wednesday at their trading area with Vendors for ED patron and Greens district chairperson, Tendai Charuka, where they aired their concerns and sought intervention to regain possession of their wares.
“I sell kapenta and sugar beans. They took almost six buckets of kapenta and five buckets of sugar beans worth almost US$600. I never got anything back. Right now, I am stuck. I have no stock and no money to restock. I don’t know where to turn,” Melecksedck Zimunya told CITE in an interview.
Another vendor, an elderly woman, Esther Chimombe, said she was harassed while losing her wares and was denied an opportunity to pay a fine.
“A young man came and took my wares. He harassed me. I was helpless. I am old; I cannot walk fast. I tried to negotiate with them and pay a fine to get my wares back, but they would not tell me how much I should pay,” she said.
“I tried to check on my wares to see if they were still intact, but they refused. I sell clothes and detergents. Right now, I am limping because of the effects of the harassment that I was subjected to.”
Takunda Simango said he suffered injuries on his back after he was chased and beaten up.
Addressing the vendors, Charuka condemned the treatment given to the vendors by the council police.
“It is sad that vendors are treated this way. The council took their wares, and they will be auctioned off at very low prices. Imagine cooking oil being auctioned at $1 or a pack of potatoes being auctioned at $0.50. Even when buying in bulk, you would never get these products that cheap. How will these people fend for their families?” Charuka said.
“We are asking the council to give back the wares to their owners and allocate vending bays to Zanu-PF vendors. Here in Ward 1, there are almost 5,700 vending bays, and only a handful were allocated to Zanu-PF affiliates, which is not fair. Everyone deserves to have a place to sell from.”
The council had not yet responded to questions sent to them at the time of publication.
