Defiant informal traders battle to survive

Zimbabwean informal traders affected by the government's controversial clean-up operation have come up with ways - often novel - to keep their businesses alive and out of the watchful eye of the authorities. From locating business operations at their homes to displaying wares as "samples" on the street, defiant traders were fighting to survive because they had no alternative source of income, said analysts. Humanitarian agencies noted the ongoing operation had so far left at least 320,000 people homeless and many thousands without livelihoods. The government has argued that the operation, which began over a month ago, was meant to rid urban centres of criminal activities, including illegal foreign currency dealing. "Most of the informal traders have known no other way of fending for themselves and their families, and it is not surprising to see them establishing themselves again in areas that they have been chased away from," the chief executive officer of the Zimbabwe National Chamber of Commerce (ZNCC), Innocent Makwiramiti, told IRIN. "The government destroyed the informal sector at a time the country is suffering from its worst unemployment levels. Naturally, the victims of the operation would always find ways of continuing with their businesses, even though that might be illegal," he commented. Jane Ngwerume, 30, a single mother of three, used to sell wooden curios and traditional herbs in the populous suburb of Mbare before the market was destroyed last month. She now runs her business from home. "Even if the police arrest me a hundred times, I cannot watch while my children starve. When the authorities demolished our market, my parents removed a tenant who was living in their house and I moved in. "I consider myself lucky because at least I have somewhere to operate from. The police have not yet discovered that is what I am doing, because my clients could just as well pass for visitors. I keep the room where my wares are stocked locked, just in case someone tips off the authorities," said Ngwerume. But, unlike the busy Mbare market, her home-based business draws few customers. Ngwerume's neighbour, Eunice Sithole, who is 24 and single, now also operates from home after her hair salon was destroyed. She said the police had confiscated her equipment but she used her savings to buy a new hair dryer and chemicals, and her clients followed her. "But business is no longer as good as it used be, since the space is too small and my equipment is gone. My situation has been made worse by the fact that my landlord has said he wants an 'operating fee', in addition to me having to pay part of the water and electricity bills. "What consoles me is that I can make enough money to buy food, and the police are not coming after me - at least for now," commented Sithole. Former 'tuckshop' owners in many of the densely populated suburbs in the southwest and northeast of the capital, Harare, have also resorted to moving their shops to their homes; other defiant former business owners are running their operations in open spaces. Jaison Makaya of Glen View, about 20 km southwest of Harare, said that to avoid being arrested, he displayed "sample" goods, which he monitored from a distance. "I hide my goods in the bush, from where I go and retrieve them when a customer approaches me. Initially people thought I was mad, but they are now used to my new way of doing business. In any case, they are forced to buy from me because the nearest shops are far away and usually do not have what I can provide," said Makaya. His daring wife, Betty, sells vegetables outside a shopping centre about a kilometre away. In the city centre, sweet and cigarette vendors hide their goods in drainage pipes and, like Makaya, display "samples" in the form of empty cigarette cases. While they sell small items during the day, the vendors take advantage of the cover of night to sell other goods like vegetables and clothes to commuters waiting in long queues to go home after work. ZNCC chief Makwiramiti said the government should have given the informal traders sufficient time to legalise their businesses to ensure that their sources of income were not disrupted. The police recently announced that they had vetted around 7,000 vendors, who would soon be allocated stands at approved locations, but according to Makwiramiti the figure represents a small fraction of the number of people who were affected by the operation. Traders applying for a stand are required to show proof of legal residence, national identity cards and receipts to prove their wares have been procured legally. The monthly rental for a stand will be about US $60. Hairdresser Sithole was critical of the eligibility requirements. "The government is not catering for people like me - it seems to be concerned more about people who are selling goods, rather than those delivering services, such as hair dressers - judging by the fact that they want you to produce receipts of the things that you will be selling. "In addition, how will I be able to produce proof of the so-called legal residence when I am just a tenant who is not approved by the municipality?" she asked. Economist John Robertson said more illegal informal traders would re-emerge because of the rising cost of living. "The economic situation is dire, and the cost of living is bound to shoot up and, naturally, many more people who were into the informal trade will go back because they are desperate to earn a living," he explained. The current rate of inflation is 144.4 percent. Makwiramiti said the illegal informal sector had been thriving because of the poor performance of the economy. "The challenge was not that these people were operating illegally. It is important to look at why the informal sector had blossomed to that extent, and the obvious answer is the crisis that the economy is going through," he remarked. Since 2000, when the government's controversial fast-track land reform programme started, many manufacturing industries, which had sourced their raw materials from the agricultural sector, folded because production dropped after commercial farms were seized. The persistent shortage of foreign currency that followed the withdrawal of financial support by the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank and foreign investors had also impacted on industrial production, which largely depended on imported raw materials. Unemployment in Zimbabwe is currently estimated at 70 percent.