30 August, 2023
Bulawayo Vendors and Traders Association (BVTA) learns with shock the devastating inferno that razed thousands worth of goods belonging to informal traders at Mtize Flea market in Bulawayo and our hearts are with the people who have lost their livelihoods in this unfortunate disaster.
We take solace that there were no injuries or fatalities from the fire which started in the early hours of 30 August 2023, although hundreds of informal traders lost their jobs. Young people mostly young women, who were employed as shop keepers have lost their source of income. The disaster also strikes at a time when informal traders were just recovering from the devastating impact of COVID-19 pandemic.
We urge authorities to declare this incident a city disaster and urgently activate all systems to assist informal traders affected by the incident and we also invite well-wishers to come on board and assist informal traders in any form possible. We also pray that authorities will leave no stone unturned in pursuit of the cause of the inferno.
It is our prayer that in the future, informal traders consider to pursue insurance cover for their goods, organizations such as ours have tailored insurance packages for informal traders in partnership with insurance service providers such as Champions Insurance with packages as little as USD $5 for a fire policy for stock, medical aid, hospital cash back and funeral cover for such and many other unfortunate occurrences.
We also strongly urge property owners to prioritize regular maintenance, insure premises and the authorities to regularly inspect places of work such as markets and ensure adherence to minimum safety standards.
Informal trading has become the backbone of our economy as about 70% of the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) comes from the informal economy and the source of livelihood for many families. Informal cross border traders are dotted across the Southern Africa Development Countries (SADC) region either to resell or order goods or raw materials for producing goods in the country and it is a source of employment for many people, particularly women.
Issued by BVTA Information and Publicity Unit
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