Title: Periscope the vendor crisis in Zimbabwe
Author: Tinashe Mushakavanhu
Category: Zimbabwe
Date: 6/4/2015
Source: Medium.com
Source Website: https://medium.com/@tinsmush/periscope-the-vendor-crisis-in-zimbabwe-893264ef8052
African Charter Article# 22: All peoples shall have the right to their economic, social and cultural development within the common heritage of humanity .
Summary & Comment: After the economy has gone to the dogs, more than 4000 companies closing, unemployment pegged at 80%, the only option for survival of most Zimbabweans has been vending. Now Zimbabwe has said it will use security forces to drive out thousands of vendors selling their wares on the sidewalks and pavements of major towns. MM
https://medium.com/@tinsmush/periscope-the-vendor-crisis-in-zimbabwe-893264ef8052
I miss Harare - the hustle and bustle. I miss Harare the city that does not sleep. It's a place I was born and grew up. It's a place that infuriates and exhilarates. It's a place where my umblical cord was buried.
I have a love and hate relationship with Harare. It reflects everything good and bad about Zimbabwe - the rich excesses and the extreme poverty. Harare never used be like that. It used to be known as the Sunshine City. Kigali would struggle to compete with the old Harare.
Robert Mugabe is a lucky man. He is not in power because he is invincible or clever. He is there because Zimbabweans have chosen to ignore him and get on with their lives. Instead of waiting for government they have chosen to put matters in their hands. Harare life is transactional. Everyone is selling or bartering something someone else wants. The whole city has turned into a market and Harare business is not about profits. It is about survival.
Takura Zhangazha, a social commentator, puts it succinctly: "No, vendors are not a security threat. No, they are not planning to topple anyone. No, they will not do a Tunisia or Egypt. Yes, they just wanna make a dollar out of 15 cents!"
The vendor crisis was not a spontaneous happening. According to the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe more than 4000 businesses have shut down in the past three years. Unemployment levels are peaked at 80%. And wary foreign investors face policy uncertainty after years of rhetoric and offense.
In 2005, Mugabe's government attracted global scrutiny when it launched a crackdown on informal traders operating in city centres, a process that took away livelihoods of many. Many illegal structures, including homes around the country were destroyed under an operation code-named Murambatsvina or Operation Restore Order. The United Nations habitat report estimated that the operation directly and indirectly affected 2,4 million citizens.
Many see the the forthcoming June 10 by-elections as the ulterior motive of the government's aggressive stance. Despite the opposition parties boycotting the election the ruling party knows they are not a straight sell. Mugabe and ZANU PF have failed to win the hearts of urban voters. And it seems they are going to get the vote by any means necessary even if it includes punishing the people where it hurts most.
Unfortunately, the Zimbabwean media has been complicit in the unfolding crisis in the country by allowing themselves to play the game for the politicians. In the reportage of this crisis, amidst the threats, familes are set to loose their livelihoods. There is just no human interest in the media coverage.
The Information and Media Panel of Inquiry report, rightly so, revealed that the Zimbabwean public regards traditional media as manifestly corrupt and designed for disinformation. Indeed, our media is so partisan that it is distorting the plight of the vendors by privileging political actors to trade rhetoric jibes. We have had enough of that.
I don't want to read about the vendor crisis in the country anymore but I want the vendors to own their story and not let it be distorted by the media. I want them to periscope from the street corners of Harare so that we can spend a few seconds with them to appreciate their agonies and hopes. I want them to switch on their periscopes and diarise in real time what a "vendor economy" really looks like.
Tinashe Mushakavanhu is a proud Zimbabwean, media entrepreneur in the making. Loves reading. Writing about tech & books.
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